Beneath Sovereign Skies
by Bobmin356
Summary: Harry and the dragons fight to find their place and gain acceptance amidst growing international tensions. Not all is well and good as the Weyrs threaten established powers and offer new opportunities. Follow Harry and the dragons as they try to navigate increasingly turbulent waters of international politics, terrorism and intrigue. On indefinite hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

_**Standard Disclaimer:**_

"Hmmmm Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Alan Rickman," Alyx muttered as she hunched over her desk.

"What are you doing?" Bob asked mildly after deliberately sneaking up on her.

Alyx screeched and jumped into the air. As she did she pulled a hammer and a running chain saw from her pockets. She landed and faced Bob, ready for combat. (Note to readers, Alyx is a trained professional and is quite handy with her chain saw. Do not attempt putting a running chain saw in your pocket unless you have passed your Zombie apocalypse survival course.)

"Don't do that!" she snarled whilst waving the chain saw under his nose.

Bob buffed his nails against his shirt and looked at her for a moment. "Impressive, but all I asked was what are you doing?"

"Casting decisions, this isn't easy you know."

Bob's brows furrowed. "Casting? You do know you're supposed to be writing a disclaimer telling people we don't own Harry Potter or Dragon Riders of Pern."

"Yeah but this is more important. I'm going to use that start up website, kickintheballs, to fund a movie based on my great Who who epic. Right now I'm trying to pick who will play Snape," Alyx retorted.

Bob frowned. "Did you get kicked in the head by a llama again? You know Alan Rickman would never stoop so low as to play Snape!"

Alyx paused to ponder and steam whistled from the hole in the back of her head that was strangely shaped like a llama hoof. "Hey that only happened once! Or twice. Er I forget, but that's not important now!"

"No what is important is that the story is about to begin and you're wasting time on silly stuff. And really? Tom Cruise? Who would hire that midget?"

"Now you're being mean!" Alyx exclaimed with a trembling lip. "You're just jealous because I'm going to be a famous director and fabulously wealthy."

"Might I remind you of your other schemes to be fabulously wealthy, how many seeing-eye llamas did you sell? And you're still in litigation over those steam powered adult toys. Or the..."

"Enough!" Alyx screamed. "Just start the chapter and I'll be good. Jeez, I didn't think a wheel chair pushed by a llama would be a problem. I had to do something with all those seeing-eye llamas we had in the house!"

Bob turned to the audience and smirked. "Presenting book three in the Harry Potter, Dragon Rider crossover. Enjoy the story folks!"

* * *

_**Beneath Sovereign Skies**_

**#10 Downing Street, London, August 15****th**** 1996...**

A buzzer distracted John Major from the report he was reading. He reached across his desk and pressed the intercom button on his phone. "Yes?"

"Baron Browne is here to see you sir," his secretary said.

_Damn,_ Major thought, _oh well, lets get this over with. I can't keep putting him off forever._

"Very well, send him in and then see we're not disturbed," Major replied.

Baron Edmund John Philip Browne was an independent member of the house of lords. As an independent he belonged to a small minority of Parliament that had not been brought to the Weyr back at the beginning of the year. The handful of independents had been left ignorant of dragons because it was felt that there was no one to keep them in line unlike the major parties.

Baron Edmund John Philip Browne was also the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of British Petroleum. A man who represented a company that stood to lose a lot if the dragons succeeded in powering the world.

The government had finally finished divesting itself of its interests in the company and Browne represented the first true CEO that held no ties to the government or the monarchy other than his own personal position as a member of the house of Lords. BP had control over much of the North Sea oil fields, and those were estimated to exceed the size of the Saudi oil fields by as much as twenty five percent. When it was discovered it was hailed as a boon for Britain, that is until people learned just how difficult off shore oil drilling could be in the North Sea.

Now many of the technical hurdles had been overcome, but it was still a difficult and dangerous place to drill for oil.

Major stood and smiled as the door opened. "Baron Browne, please do come in and sit," he said, offering a hand.

Browne shook his hand and sat down. It was obvious from his posture that he was not a happy man.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for seeing me," Browne said. "I've wanted to meet with you for a while now..."

He trailed off when Major shook his head and held up a hand. "I know why you're here Baron. And I am going to tell you the same thing that President Clinton told the CEO of Exxon. The dragons represent a source of renewable, sustainable energy that has little impact upon the environment. It is the position of Her Majesty's government that their impact on the economy of the United Kingdom will far exceed the discovery of oil in the North Sea and it will last a lot longer than your oil fields will. We are not unsympathetic to the plight now faced by your company and others. But the government feels you are looking at this totally wrong."

Browne gripped the arms of his chair tightly. He was angry, his in-house analysts were practically gibbering in fear about the impact of the dragons on the company and he had this politician tell him he was looking at it wrong? Browne arched a single eyebrow and Major knew he was angry. It was Major's job to get the man to see reason and opportunity. "Oh?" Browne said tightly.

"Baron, BP is currently in a cash rich position and it will be many years before dragons have a significant impact on your balance sheets. We both know there will always be a need for petroleum products. And it could take two decades or more before a dragon powered car becomes a reality, so petrol isn't an issue. Lubricating products will be untouched by dragons, the same can be said for many plastics.

"So we are looking at dragons impacting oil that is used for power generation, and perhaps downstream petrol for vehicles."

Browne looked startled at that. No one had mentioned petrol to him, or even talked about hot rock powered vehicles.

"It seems to us, and the American government agrees, that now would be the time for you and Exxon to reposition your businesses while you still have the surplus money to make such a move. The dragons stand to affect a great many industries and right now there are only two groups taking advantage of that."

Browne blinked in surprise and leaned forward in his chair. He had come here to complain about what the dragons would do to one of the largest companies in the UK and the Prime Minister was clearly saying that things weren't as bad as he thought.

"What two groups?" he asked with interest.

Major smiled, _welcome to my web my lord Baron,_ he thought. "The Weyr is producing hot rocks and a holding company that is currently jointly owned by the Weyr and the British government. Dragon Services Ltd is a research and development company as well as a patent holding company. Her Majesty's government will be selling it's shares of Dragon Services back to the Weyr until it becomes totally Weyr owned. In the meantime DSL will be licensing technologies and creating sub-divisions under the main parent company."

Major leaned back in his chair and looked pointedly at Browne. "The Weyr has the power source my lord Baron and they will take part in developing new technologies to utilize those sources. But they lack the industrial and manufacturing capacity to turn those technologies into a reality. It will be years before the Weyr has any significant manufacturing capability, if ever. They will need partners, partners willing to help them forge a new world."

Major extended a hand and pointed at Browne. "It seems to me that a forward thinking company with cash to spare might be enticed into examining new business opportunities that the dragons offer. Oil, sir, was the power source that fueled us through two world wars and a cold war. But the century is coming to a close and dragon power is going to fuel the world through the next century. Whole new technologies are going to be created or reinvented to work with dragon power."

Browne leaned back in his chair and considered what Major said. It was true that every oil company in the world took a very brief hit in their stock the day after the dragon-kind was announced to the world, but the stock quickly rebounded as investors realized that dragons represented a long term impact on the industry. The short term impact was barely noticeable.

"Do you truly believe that?" he finally asked.

Major nodded. "I do, and so does my successor."

"Successor?" exclaimed Browne.

"Mr. Blair is quite capable and even more enthusiastic about dragons than I am, if that is possible. I daresay one of his first moves will be to provide a substantial one time tax break for any company that is willing to invest in dragon power," Major said a bit wistfully. "Her Majesty has asked that I give the Weyr priority even over my own reelection."

Browne shook his head in amazement. The Prime Minister had all but admitted he was throwing the election at the request of the Queen.

"Prime Minister, my analysts are certain that we'll see substantial drops in oil sales," he said, trying a different tack.

"In the long run, yes you will, but I would bet you, you won't see any substantial drop in revenue for a decade at least. You're no fool Baron, you know power plants can't be built over night. Most countries will phase out the old plants over the course of a decade or two or longer. The real issue is knowing that eventually, ten or twenty years from now, you'll start feeling a pinch. Knowing that, what will you do to prevent it? I can put you in touch with the Weyr leadership right now and offer my own personal endorsement. But consider your options carefully Baron. It won't be long before my opinion will be only as valuable as any other private citizen."

Major leaned back and watched the man carefully. He wasn't about to brush the man off, but he couldn't allow a company that brought as much revenue as BP did to become complacent. Nor was he about to admit that the Weyr did place a high value on his opinion. It was something that Lord Mills had revealed to him and he considered himself honored by it.

Right now what he needed was for Baron Browne to do the smart thing and commit to expanding their business into areas other than petroleum products.

Browne stood abruptly. "Prime Minister, I came here with the intent to point out how much damage the dragons could do to British Petroleum, and in turn how much that could hurt our economy. Instead you put me on the defensive and then proceed to tell me how to run my company!"

Major shrugged at the man. "Baron Browne, all I did was lay out your own arguments and explained one way to avoid them. There are others, you could sink a lot of money into making oil cheaper but we both know that's only a short term patch to the problem and you'll never achieve cost parity with the Hot Rocks. You could increase your plastics production and I'm certain you will do that, but again, plastics alone won't ride BP over the rough spots."

Major paused and heaved a sigh, then he looked pointedly at Browne. "Good god man, right now you have a golden opportunity. I've pointed it out to you, Mister Blair will probably repeat the government's position when he assumes this office. If you fail to take advantage of the opportunity, then you have no one but yourself to blame.

"In a very short time the Weyr will be seeking partners that can turn their patents and research into real life products. Your decision my dear Baron is do you sit on the sidelines knowing that to do so would hurt your company or do you actively grab the opportunity the Weyr is offering?"

Browne nodded stiffly. He was unused to not getting his way and it wasn't helping that Major was pointing out a valid business path for BP to take. "I will consult with my own analysts and see what they have to say about this," he said curtly.

"I do hope you'll take this seriously Baron, there are other companies from the continent that are starting to sniff out these opportunities and frankly I would rather see them go to a British company," Major offered in a conciliatory tone, then to sweeten the deal he added. "I'll also recommend to Mr. Blair that any such British companies that do join forces with the dragons, be granted a tax break for the first ten years to offset research and start up costs."

Baron Browne nodded, somewhat mollified, but still not completely convinced. "I will contact you within a week no matter what we decide," he said, then he turned and left the room.

_He's a stubborn one,_ Major thought, _but in the end he'll come around. This is too important to his company and to the nation to let it slide._

**Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown Weyr, 1996 November 1****st****...**

A very relieved Harry entered the Kitchen hall. One very big problem was finally behind them. For two solid months the Weyr had been engaged in negotiations with British Petroleum, but that was past them now. BP had come to the Weyr near the end of August in an attempt to see where they could find opportunities. BP had gone away happy, they had decided to apply themselves to an area that was totally new to them, and very basic to all hot rock applications. They were going to do research and design into heat transfer chambers which are required in all hot rock applications. There was a clear need for transfer chambers ranging from boxcar size down to the size of a small toaster and no one was currently working on that.

That meant a substantial cash infusion to the Weyr which made Karen Khan happy. For Harry, it was an end to an ordeal which resulted in his being pulled into the negotiations several times a week. And that was something he had wanted to avoid. The press announcement of the deal between the Weyr and BP actually resulted in a small but noticeable rise in the value of BP's stock.

BP was officially on-board and still looking around at other possible opportunities to explore, but the initial hump was past and both parties now knew they could work together.

And now that BP was behind Harry, he intended to deal with another problem that had been adding to his daily stress.

His eyes narrowed when he spotted one particular person, but she wasn't the one he was looking for yet. No now he needed help that only two people in particular could provide.

Luna had barged in on him this morning when he opted to use the showers in the weyr locker room after his morning jog, rather than walk back to his quarters. She had been teasing him heavily lately, trying to get a rise out of him and he thought he had been doing well ignoring her antics. This morning however she had upped the ante and now he wanted a real payback in the time honored marauder tradition.

Seeing May and Hermione off to one corner, heads together, looking over some kind of catalog. He quickly filled his tray and walked over to them.

Sitting down he placed his tray on the table and leaned a little closer. "Loves, I need some help."

Both girls looked up in surprise. It was not something that Harry readily admitted and usually when he did, it was already a very dire situation.

"With what?" asked Hermione anxiously.

Harry leaned closer and glanced over at his problem, then back to the others. "Luna," he whispered.

Both girls frowned and glanced over at Luna who was in a deep conversation with Susan Bones. They knew that as long as Luna was distracted they'd be okay talking about her. But the minute she was free she would know someone was talking about her. Both girls knew that Luna had been teasing Harry about joining their little group, but neither understood just how uncomfortable it was making Harry.

"She stormed into the locker room this morning with some silly question that could have waited. I had just finished getting dressed, but had she been two minutes earlier, I would have been naked," Harry hissed.

"Harry," May said soothingly, "she's just teasing you. She probably knew you were dressed by that point."

"I know, but what about next time? Look she's always teasing that she's going to ask you two if she can join us. I don't want to hurt her feelings, but it's starting to make me uncomfortable. I think it's time to turn the tables on her," Harry said. "I have an idea to stop it. All I ask is you two just play along with me. I don't want to add anyone to what we have now."

May and Hermione exchanged a look between them, then they nodded. Both girls were interested in seeing what Harry had in mind. Luna was a devilishly hard target and if Harry had a plan, it was sure to be amusing even if it backfired on him. "Excellent," Harry said, then he pulled two small pads from his pockets and handed one to each of them. "Follow me and just play along with what I say."

Puzzled and more than a bit intrigued the two girls rose and followed Harry as he walked over to where Luna and Susan sat talking animatedly about Susan's design for the apartment block.

"Excuse me Sue, do you mind if we talk to Luna for a moment?" Harry asked politely.

Susan looked up in surprise. "No, not at all. Should I leave?"

"No. That won't be necessary," Harry said with a smile. "I'm sure this won't take long."

Luna looked up at Harry, May and Hermione and her eyes narrowed speculatively. "How can I help you three?"

"How tall are you Luna?" asked Harry.

She blinked and tilted her head slightly. By now the tables around them fell silent as people realized something was up. "I'm five foot four inches tall, why?"

Harry glanced at her. "Really? I didn't guess that tall," he murmured, and then he turned to Hermione. "Better write that down. We'll definitely need a bigger bed then, and maybe increase the size of the tub again. I don't think it's big enough for four."

Hermione pulled out the pad that Harry had given her and produced a pen from a pocket.

Luna stared at Harry. "What are you talking about?"

Harry smiled and reached out; he gently ran a finger down her cheek. "You've wanted to join our little group so we're trying to determine what we'll have to change to bring you in. Hermione here had a question. Oh yes I remember, would you say that during love making you can overpower a standard silencing charm? You do know they are graded by amount of sound they dampen, don't you?"

"Do you mind sleeping across the bottom of the bed Luna?" asked May, getting into the act. "I suppose we could rotate positions, but normally I've got the left side and Hermione's got Harry's right."

Hermione nodded and looked sad. "That only leaves the feet for you I'm afraid, but Harry's feet don't smell that bad, he washes them at least once a week. And Dobby does insist that he wear clean socks daily, although Harry could clip his toenails more often. May and I both wash our feet every night."

By now the hall was dead silent except for Sirius and Remus who were struggling to maintain their composure. All eyes were turned towards Luna's table and the three that were finally getting some payback on Luna.

"Silencing charms?" Luna asked weakly.

Hermione nodded. "Harry is quite good, I didn't think I'd need them myself, but he quickly proved me wrong. Normally we use silencio regina, but I suppose we could try a silencio imperato if need be."

May nodded. "Even with the charm in place the house vibrates. It's kinda sexy," she added dreamily, "makes me wish it were my turn."

Both spells were well known, but rarely used by anyone except under special circumstances. Most people found a simple silencio adequate for all human activities. The more powerful spells were for controlling the noise of large crowds or animals.

"Do you have any preferred positions? We might need a firmer mattress if you want something a little more exotic," May continued. "Sirius is always going on about doggy style, but our mattress handles that just fine."

"We did have to put a sticking charm on the bed to keep it from bouncing along the floor," Hermione observed aloud and then she blushed slightly.

"And cushion the ceiling with those spells when you wanted to try the weightless charms," May added.

Harry shook his head and smiled at the two girls. "I still can't believe we made a hole in the ceiling that one time. Good thing Dobby knows how to fix plaster. Anyway, with Luna joining in we might be able to use the ropes properly."

"Oh I hope so, I had rope burns in places no woman should have," Hermione murmured.

Luna stared at Hermione, and then turned to Harry. Her face turned beet red from the tips of her ears straight down her body. She wore a simple blouse with a small vee-neck and it was plain that her blush continued south well past that neckline. Harry leaned forward and gave her a bit of a leer. "You look like a screamer," he softly. In the silence of the hall his voice still carried and it was enough to push Sirius over the edge. He broke out in laughter and fell off his chair, which caused May to start giggling.

Almost immediately the whole hall was laughing and Luna was blushing even more heavily than before. Luna stared up at Harry, then looked around and she suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh I get it. Payback," she said, then she smiled. "Be careful Weyrleader, paybacks work both ways."

"True," Harry said with a smile. "But I suppose I could always ask Trandieth to warn me about your plans. You know you can't hide anything from her. And while she's your dragon, she wouldn't hold anything back if I asked."

Luna froze and Harry knew she was having a quick conversation with her dragon. "Oh poo," she finally murmured. "Betrayed by my own dragon."

That sent the entire hall into another fit of laughter. Harry leaned down and kissed Luna's cheek, then he whispered in her ear. "I am very happy in my relationship. But I can always use a sister."

Luna smiled brightly. "A sister teases worse than a lover Harry."

He smiled back, "Perhaps but a sister also earns paybacks that a lover might not."

He straightened out and turned to his ladies. "Shall we go back to our table?"

The three left Luna sitting at her table, still blushing brightly; Susan was chortling merrily at her color. At another table Remus was trying to get Sirius back in his seat, he had fallen out of it and was still laughing on the floor.

At a nearby table Dan Granger had fingers in his ears and was humming loudly to the consternation of his wife. He didn't want to know about his daughter's love life.

Later that same day May flipped the switch that opened the huge hangar doors on the infirmary. Hagrid stood nearby, beaming a huge smile. Behind them stood Lornth, his eyes twirling anxiously, streaked heavily with black and yellow.

All three paused in surprise when the doors opened to reveal most of the riders and the dragons of Campbeltown standing silently, waiting for them.

Harry stepped forward. "I know this is only a simple test you're conducting May, but we wanted to be here. For Lornth."

Lornth sucked in a loud breath and several nearby dragons crooned encouragingly. May nodded and walked Lornth up a small ramp to a platform about six feet high. They had been extensively exercising his wings since August and this would be the first attempt to use them in a flight condition, even if it was a simple glide. Lornth would have a running start and then leap off the platform to glide to the ground. Or that was the plan.

Harry climbed the platform behind May and Lornth and he went over to the large dragon and spoke quietly with him for a few moments. As he did Lornth's anxiety lessened and green started to replace the black and yellow lights twirling in his eyes.

Harry stepped back and nodded to May. She stepped forward. "Alright, Lornth, lets do this just like we talked about."

"_Alright Weyrhealer May,"_ replied the dragon. Lornth then slowly extended his wings. Harry examined the dragon's wings with a critical eye. He could tell they weren't one hundred percent straight but May had managed a masterful job of healing the wings. Lornth had been seriously injured during the attack on the Hogsmeade school and had spent months in the infirmary attached to a traction frame while his wing bones healed.

Lornth flapped his wings a few times and his front paws lifted off the ground. "Lornth," May cautioned. "Let's do this slowly please?"

The dragon settled his front paws on the platform again and looked at May and nodded. He didn't want to spend any more time in the infirmary. _"I'm ready to try this Weyrhealer May,"_ he said.

"Alright, remember this is just a short flight to get a feel for your wing strength. If I see you attempt anything other than that I'll have you back in your stall for another month," May said sternly.

The large dragon bowed his head and nodded again.

Lornth extended his wings again and ran along the short platform. It was barely a full dragon length long but it was long enough. He flapped his wings a few times and then lifted his legs so that he was airborne. He glided off the edge of the platform and flapped a few more times to continue his glide for about one hundred feet. From Harry's position it was obvious that he was straining and growing tired. Finally he came to a landing. He stopped and turned around to look at May and Harry on the platform, then he reared up on his hind legs and trumpeted his happiness to the sky! He was well along the road to flying again and the whole Weyr knew it.

The dragons joined with Lornth bellowing their joy, then twenty riders converged on Lornth, carrying buckets of warmed oil and stiff bristle brushes. Harry jumped down from the edge of the platform and then he turned and helped May get down. The pair walked over to Lornth who was practically moaning in delight over the rubbing down he was getting.

"Very good Lornth, I told you you could do it," May said happily.

The dragon turned to May, his eyes heavy drowsiness. _"I couldn't have done it at all without the Weyr's help. Without you and your __sire__ I would have gone Between."_

May blushed slightly, but she pushed that aside. "How are you feeling?"

"_Tired and my wings ache. I see why you have been making me exercise so hard now."_

"Yes, you still have more work to do. But now you know you can fly again, you just have to work at it. I want you to stay in the infirmary for a few more days, but by the weekend you can return to your regular bed in Hangar five. Your primary duty until I say so will be to return to the infirmary everyday so we can exercise those muscles."

"_Yes Weyrhealer,"_ Lornth replied.

"He will work at it," Harry said firmly. "He is a Campbeltown dragon and they are the best dragons in the world."

Around them the other dragons thrummed in approval. Harry turned towards where Spath and Chekiath sat. "Spath, please pass the word to the others. Let everyone know that we will try to heal any dragon. We won't always succeed, but if the non-bonded dragons know, perhaps they won't be so willing to jump Between."

Spath looked at Harry, then he glanced over towards Lornth who was nearly asleep from the brushing he was getting then he turned back to Harry. _"It is a difficult thing Weyrleader, but I will tell the others. Perhaps it will save some. Our memories tell us that between rider and dragon there was a great bond. But you have introduced a new bond of family. It is an alien idea, but one which I like."_

"You are family Spath," May said firmly. "You might not have a rider, but all of us love you like we love our dragons."

Spath turned his gaze to May, his eyes were heavily streaked with green. _"I will pass the word among the dragons,"_ he replied a bit bashfully. These humans were different from the Pern humans. They were more open about their feelings and willing to include all dragons. Pern humans were more reserved and they would defend and protect all dragon kind but would rarely acknowledge any sort of bond between themselves and another dragon other than their own.

Spath looked around a bit wistfully, these humans were changing dragon attitudes about a great many things and he approved of the changes that he saw. Unfortunately his time was growing shorter with every passing day and he knew it would not be long before he would have to make the trip Between. It saddened him to know he would not live to see the Weyrleader bring mankind and dragon-kind together, but he was certain Harry would succeed.

Chekiath, sensing Spath's melancholy turned and crooned softly to him. Spath eyed the big dragon and pulled his ears back in a dragon version of a smile. Chekiath didn't know what was bothering the Elder dragon, but he'd try to talk to him later about it. Right now the Weyr wanted to celebrate Lornth's recovery.

**Harry's Office Campbeltown Weyr, December 1****st****, 1996...**

Harry looked up from the textbook he was reading when Major Atkins knocked at his door. "Harry, I'm sorry to disturb your study time but do you have a moment for some visitors?"

He smiled when he saw Alejandro Croaker and Arthur Weasley standing behind her. Weasley looked a little uncomfortable, but that could have been because there were two armed men escorting them.

"Yes, come on in," He said, then he placed a marker in his book and closed it.

"I didn't know your wards were adjusted to redirect apparations," Croaker said a bit gruffly.

Harry smiled thinly. "Apparations and portkeys still work, they just arrive in our security office. Interest in the Weyr is considerable and Draco wanted to learn about warding as part of his job handling the magical security of the Weyr under Sirius. He and Remus Lupin adjusted the wards so that all apparations appear in our security office. Portkeys as well. You can apparate from anywhere within the Weyr, but everyone arrives via the main gate where they can sign in, including our magical visitors. Since then Draco has been learning warding from Sirius Black and a tutor we hired via Gringotts."

Draco understood he was at a disadvantage when it came to muggle schooling, so he had spoken to Harry and it was decided that they would arrange for him to train under some of Gringotts best warders after he had taken his A levels and NEWTs. In the meantime Sirius and Remus would help him as he worked under Black, examining the wards and improving upon the original work that Albus and Remus had put in place. If Harry had his way, Draco would oversee the implementation of wards for every Weyr in the world, manned or unmanned.

Harry had dropped a few hints to Draco about warding as a possible career choice and he had leaped at the opportunity.

Croaker grunted sourly and nodded. He didn't like the Weyr restricting access like this. He made a note to himself to see about sending someone out to perform a covert analysis on the wards. Before the old ministry fell to the muggles, his department routinely analyzed wards around the country covertly and he felt that understanding the Weyr's wards might someday benefit the ministry.

"Arthur, how is Percy?" Harry asked.

Arthur smiled broadly. "He's mostly recovered and back to work Harry, thank you for asking. He's been stepping out with Penelope Clearwater. Molly expects them to announce their engagement soon."

Harry nodded, he was glad to hear Percy was doing better. "Good, good to hear about that Arthur. So gentlemen, how can the Weyr help you?" asked Harry, getting down to business.

Arthur and Alejandro exchanged a look, and then Arthur looked at Harry. The elder Weasley was decidedly uncomfortable with the topic he was about to bring up. "Harry, we've had some complaints."

"Complaints?" Harry echoed mildly. In his stall, attached to Harry's office, Chekiath opened his eyes and watched intently.

"At first we thought it wasn't a problem, but the Weyr helped themselves to twelve students this past October; eight of them from a single hedge academy. The situation at that particular academy is now acute, they are unsure there will be enough students for them to continue operating. They were a small school to begin with; with less than forty students, but this year you've taken nearly half their students," Arthur said uncomfortably.

"One moment," Harry said calmly, and then he turned to Chekiath. "Cheki would ask Karen to come here to explain her population analysis?"

"_Yes Harry."_

Harry turned back to the two wizards and his expression turned serious. "I'm afraid that your problem runs much deeper than anyone at the Ministry of Magic realizes. Last year I asked a few questions that Albus couldn't answer, so I had Karen Khan look into it for me. With help from Albus and help from the Americans we put together a picture that is rather disturbing. The only reason why we haven't told anyone about this is we weren't sure who to tell. We were going to inform Albus, but well…"

Harry trailed off for a moment and for a brief instant he deeply missed the old man. He shook from his pensive mood and continued speaking. "Karen Khan is a bit of a genius when it comes to mathematics. I know this might sound confusing at first, but I'll ask you to listen carefully to her."

"Mathematics?" Croaker said uncertainly. He knew what math was, but he couldn't see how it related to the Weyr depleting the wizarding society of their young.

The door opened and Karen stepped into the room. Croaker frowned to himself, the girl was clearly Asian in descent and from her dress, he suspected, a muggle, not even a squib!

"Yes mathematics," Harry replied. "I know Albus was working on some population initiatives, how well is that going?"

Arthur looked pained. "It looked really promising for a while, but then interest in the idea seemed to wane. We realize that we need more people but a number of departments within the Ministry are balking at some of the proposed solutions. And several department heads point out that we have many thousands of wizards in Great Britain. It will be a long time before this is a problem if ever. Given that, we tabled the initiative in favor of other, more important projects."

Harry frowned and motioned towards Karen.

"Karen, these gentlemen arrived here today to complain that one of the hedge academies may be forced to close thanks to our taking eight of their students," Harry said, then he turned to his guests and his tone turned downright frigid. "And gentlemen, _I will remind_ you that each student was asked if they would like a chance to impress a dragon. We carefully explained what that meant to their lives and what it meant in terms of personal relationships. I remember it quite clearly, we spoke with nine people from that school and one declined our offer. We did not 'help ourselves' to those students, they came of their own free will and have already impressed dragons, again of their own free will. No Weyr will take anyone against their will, not while I'm Weyrleader."

Harry stood from his desk and motioned to Karen to take his chair. "Karen please show our guests what you discovered about the Wizard population here in the United Kingdom," he added in a gentler tone.

Karen nodded and sat down. With a few deft clicks on Harry's keyboard she called up the appropriate spreadsheet from the file server and then swiveled the monitor around so they could see the screen. "You gentlemen might want to rethink your position in regard to your population. Your school is struggling not because we removed some students, it is struggling because your society is in a serious population decline that has been ignored for far too long.

"For years you've been chasing first born wizards and witches back into regular society or out of Britain entirely while at the same time your society's birthrate has not been keeping up with your death rate. Sometime during the mid fifties your population achieved a threshold called ZPG or zero population growth. That means the number of births equal the number of deaths. I can't say why you hit ZPG, but the numbers speak for themselves. For nearly five years your population stayed essentially static, then around 1960 there was a jump in the number of deaths while the birth rate remained steady."

Arthur and Alejandro looked at each other. "Voldemort," Croaker said.

Arthur closed his eyes and nodded unhappily. Everyone had lost family during Voldemort's rise to power.

Karen looked at the two men and Arthur motioned for her to continue. "With an increasing death rate and a flat birth rate your population started a decline from the pre-second world war high of roughly ninety two thousand. According to Albus, the war itself accounted for less than three thousand magical deaths, but most of them were young men and women. Additionally the numbers started to work against you. The number of people capable of having children shrank and the death toll continued to increase.

"Albus once told me that there were roughly seventy thousand wizards in Britain, which means a twenty three percent loss of population in less than fifty years.

"Harry informs me that most wizarding families these days only have one child. As a precaution I asked several of the other wizards we have as riders and most of them come from single child households. Right now your death rate out paces the birth rate. Within a century wizarding Britain could cease to exist if steps aren't taken."

Alejandro and Arthur leaned forward and eyed the figures on the screen carefully. "This can't be right," Arthur said. "We have plenty of children."

"Do you?" asked Karen a bit skeptically.

"Karen," Harry said with a bit of embarrassment, "Mr. Weasley has seven children."

Karen nodded. "Well my question still stands. Mr. Weasley may represent a statistical anomaly but how many other families have had only one child? Draco Malfoy is an only child, so is Luna Lovegood and Susan Bones or Millicent Bulstrode. This appears to be typical for Wizarding households. And then there are the first born children like Hermione Granger. How many more magical children would there be if you didn't chase the first born back into normal society or out of the country?"

Alejandro and Arthur leaned back in their chairs thunderstruck by the questions. They looked at each other and thought about the people they knew. Karen had dropped an angry kneazle in their laps and they didn't know how to respond to it.

"Is it like this elsewhere?" Croaker asked suddenly.

Karen shook her head. "I asked myself that same question. Now mind you I don't have access to a lot of records, but Jasper Brady of the US Department of Magic was able to get me data for the United States and I have seen similar data for Canada."

She tapped a few keys and the screen changed with new data. "As you can see the US and Canada are maintaining a steady growth rate of roughly one point four five people per death. It isn't a lot of growth, and it is lower than the mundane population growth rate, but it is growth whereas here in the UK we're seeing nearly two deaths for every child born."

Finally she called up a new chart. "This is the projected growth of the Weyr once we start having children of our own. You'll note that the number of magical children will eventually grow to represent a sizable minority of riders."

She turned and looked at Harry. "Our own Doctor Sheppard informed me his wife is pregnant again, that will make their second child. Doctor Sheppard is a wizard and his wife is not magical. So far his daughter is a witch and there is good reason to believe the new baby will be magical as well.

"Wizards have certain innate advantages over mundanes, but a wizard/mundane pairing will almost always produce more magical children than a pure wizard pairing and that's not factoring in the multiple partnerships like Harry has.

"Where normal society reflects a ratio of roughly one wizard in a thousand, our closed society will experience a gain in wizards so that we'll probably have higher percentage. That is largely due to the fact that we'll start with a larger pool of wizards to begin with and we have a smaller population with a greater wizard to mundane ratio."

Harry nodded, May had filled him in on this part, plus she had privately admitted that she hoped his magical genes would be strong enough to carry through to their children. She was a little envious of the ability and very grateful that none of the magical riders tried to make the others feel less than their equals. In that respect Harry had set a very strong example for the magical riders and they were following it very closely.

"I'll add that it is unlikely any of the magical children in the Weyr will be schooled at any magical school unless they specifically ask for it. We'll leave that option open to them, but I suspect that any Weyr children will want to stay at the Weyr and impress as soon as possible." Harry added.

"Given what we do know about the British wizard population, in the coming years we'll be searching magical communities other than the United Kingdom for our magical riders. We already have permission from the Irish and the French and we're in talks with Germany, Norway and Sweden."

"This is a disaster," Arthur whispered. "What can we do?"

"Raise public awareness about the problem and get the government firmly behind a program to fix it. And most of all, stop chasing out the new magical people," Karen said succinctly.

Both men looked at her in confusion and Harry chuckled. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at the two men. "Karen is best at what she does, but she is so used to working with numbers and explaining things to people that understand her. She often has to explain things three or more times before I understand her."

He smiled at her to soften his words and let her know he wasn't criticizing her then he turned back to the two Ministry men. "First thing you do is stop the bleeding, make it illegal to discriminate against first born witches and wizards and enforce those laws. Hire them at the ministry and treat them equally. Once the ministry is welcoming the first born you want to make other businesses do the same. You want them to stay in the wizarding world or at least be willing to straddle both worlds. Enact laws that punish any employer that discriminates against the first born and half bloods."

Arthur nodded, this was exactly what he was making happen in the Ministry now. They had made it illegal to discriminate by bloodlines, but hiring non-pure bloods even at the ministry had been slow going.

"And the next thing?" asked Croaker.

"This is going to be the really hard part. You need to tell the public what the problem is, but you can't do that and just expect them to start popping out more kids. No you have to make it worthwhile to have more children. Offer them an incentive, or decreased taxes for every child they have. The government makes education up to grade twelve mandatory, but what comes after that? Most countries have programs set up to help their young adults find careers and placement within their society. Only here in the UK are the new graduates expected to find their own paths without help.

"One of the most common complaints I hear is that your society is stagnant. When was the last new spell created by a British Wizard? When was the last new potion invented? This stagnation comes from an almost pathological fear of change. Change can be frightening, but no change is a sure fire disaster in the making. If you don't advocate change, then nothing you do will save you as a society. Eventually the pure bloods will die out and the only ones left will be half-bloods and first born who will owe no allegiance to your society because you gave them none."

"Set up an institute of higher learning that graduating Hogwarts or other school students can attend. Offer incentives to businesses that are willing to take on apprentices, or spend time and money researching magic. Encourage new ideas and spell creation. There are a whole host of things you can do if only you look around and see what some other countries are doing. Look at America or Germany or even Ireland and see how they have set up things to help their graduates become productive members of a magical society. Ireland for example has a society of Potioneers that actively researches new potions. What does Britain have? Nothing."

Harry leaned up against the side of his desk and folded his arms, watching the two wizards.

"You sound like Sir William," Croaker said. He was not entirely pleased with what he was hearing. He and Arthur thought they would be able to come here to tell the Weyr that they couldn't take anymore wizards and instead discover that their way of life was in danger because of their own complacency.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know Sir William very well, but my tutors in politics and diplomacy all come from similar backgrounds like Sir William's. Just because I sound like someone from Whitehall doesn't mean I do what they tell me."

Karen turned Harry's monitor back around and stood from his desk. He nodded to her and murmured a quiet thank you; then she slipped from the room. "Mr. Croaker, I am not your enemy even if you dislike the information I have given you. In the coming years the Weyr _will be asking_ a small amount of British wizarding teens to join us."

Harry gestured to an oddly colored map that Hermione had placed on his wall. There was a sheet of clear plastic over the map which someone had colored different colors. "That map shows the countries which have manned Weyrs and the countries we expect to convert to manned Weyrs by the year 2000.

"Britain stands to fall behind the other Weyrs in terms of magical riders simply because we have so few viable candidates. This year we'll be searching Ireland and France for candidates, they have no dragon reserves to build a Weyr from. We'll be searching several of the European countries because there are no wizarding candidates to be had here.

"America and Canada combined have nearly a million adult wizards and three hundred thousand magical children. Meanwhile you struggle to fill less than twenty schools. Hogwarts is running at less than half capacity and no one thought to say anything about all those empty class rooms? That alone should have been grounds for alarm.

"You can take the information we showed you and go back to your ministry and do nothing. But you know where that will lead you, or you can take the information we have, examine it for yourself and do something about it."

Croaker nodded sullenly and glanced over at Arthur who smiled encouragingly. Arthur turned back to Harry. "Will you share that information with us?" he asked.

"Of course," replied Harry easily.

Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card which he passed to Harry. "Have Miss Khan send me her information. My email address is on the card," he said proudly.

Harry took the card with a smile and carefully pocketed it to give to Karen later, and then he turned back to Croaker.

"Mr. Croaker, I know that you don't like the idea of one of Britain's few mages not participating in your society, but I believe that I'm doing something very important here. Important enough that it will benefit the entire world, not just one tiny piece of it. Like it or not, Britain's wizarding society is only a small fraction of the wizarding world, which in turn is a small fraction of the whole world. I'm trying to help the whole world and I am not your enemy," Harry said softly.

Croaker sighed and tiredly wiped at his face. "I know, it's just that I see so much potential."

Chekiath lifted his head in his stall and craned his neck so that his huge head entered the office. _"I saw Harry's potential from the moment I met him, and he is trying to help everyone. Harry could have been a __famous __wizard, but as Weyrleader he will be someone that the whole world will __respect__ and remember. __His potential will benefit everyone, not just wizards.__"_

Arthur chuckled lightly and glanced at Croaker in amusement. He didn't really understand why the man got so on edge whenever the subject of the Weyrleader came up. He wasn't bothered by dragons, but whenever the Weyrleader was the topic he seemed to simmer with resentment. "You can't argue with that endorsement Alejandro," Arthur said, "and when you consider it's the largest dragon in the country saying it, well I'm not going to argue with him. He could bite me in two."

"_We don't eat our friends sir,"_ Chekiath replied. _"And Harry does think of you and your family as __good __friends."_

Harry raised a hand and Chekiath moved his head so his rider could rub his eye ridges. "Mr. Croaker are we good now?"

Croaker nodded and stood. "We should be getting back to the office. We need to verify your information."

"I'll have Karen email copies of her data to your office," Harry offered.

Croaker grunted in acknowledgment and turned to the door. Arthur moved to follow him, then he stopped and turned back to Harry. "Harry, perhaps you'd come and visit us over the holidays? Ron and Ginny will be there, so will the twins. Bring both of your girls, you'll be welcome."

Harry smiled gently at the man. "I'll speak to Hermione and May about it. We have a scheduled meeting in New York later this month and I know we've been invited to a Boxing Day celebration at Buckingham Palace. Perhaps around New Years?"

Arthur blinked in surprise, then he nodded. He and Molly would also be attending that celebration at the Palace, but he hadn't known Harry would be there. "Just let us know, we'd be happy if you'd join us for dinner one evening. It won't be anything fancy, just family."

"Thank you Arthur," Harry replied with a smile. "We'll let you know."

Arthur turned and left the office and Cheki moved back into his stall. _"I like him, but his mate growls a lot in her head."_

Harry chuckled, "She does at that mate."

**United Nations Building, New York City, December 15****th****, 1996...**

Campbeltown Weyr popped from Between and slowly circled over the streets more than a thousand feet below. It was impossible to miss the sound of car horns and the bustle of everyday traffic from Manhattan even at one thousand feet.

"_It's a good thing we didn't come out over there,"_ Chekiath announced, then he adjusted his flight and the World Trade Center swung into view.

Harry gulped. _"I'll say,"_ he sent back, _"Ask Comaloth to have Hermione remind me to put a note in my list about checking for tall buildings when jumping to a city please."_

"_Done. Now she's going to nag you about it,"_ Cheki said smugly.

Harry smiled at the idea. Hermione had near perfect memory and if she reminded him, he'd remember to put in a note about checking building heights in areas they wanted to appear in. He didn't mind and it was one of the little ways he used to remind her that he needed her.

Besides, her nags had become very gentle compared to her strident comments about doing his homework when they were younger.

One more wing appeared as Condron arrived and Harry waved to Skip and Kat. Maziang appeared a bare two hundred feet behind them a second later.

He was pleased to see Jasper Brady sitting behind a rider and looking none too comfortable. He liked the American liaison who worked as hard for Condron and dragons as James Mills worked for Campbeltown.

Jasper had already smoothed over a few bumps that Condron had run into and Harry hoped every Weyr could have an advocate like Mills and Brady.

Harry squeezed his knees and leaned left. Chekiath banked to the right and Harry pointed. "There, in front of the building. Do you see the large open area they have cordoned off?"

"_I see it. All Wings, follow me in wing order,"_ Chekiath replied, then he started a gentle spiral downwards. The clear area was empty, but all around the police barricades were thousands of people and news cameras waited for their arrival.

Seven wings dragons, five from Campbeltown and one each from Condron and Maziang, joined Harry and Cheki in their downward spiral. Chekiath was deliberately turning their arrival into a spectacle for the cameras and the crowd. Campbeltown boasted seven wings now with the November impression, but those two wings were still in Weyrling training and had been left behind at Campbeltown.

As Harry had predicted, the number of magical riders from those two news wings was a mere fifteen people. Magical riders would always be a part of the Weyr, but for the next few years they would be a substantial minority.

The last few months since the unveiling had been a trial for the Weyr. Offers had flooded in from every industry and country wanting to meet dragons or film them. But as was often the case, with the good came the bad. A substantial number of people believed dragons were demons. Christian and Muslim extremists condemned them, some countries claimed that they were animals, cleverly trained animals, but animals nonetheless. Still other groups claimed them to be soulless demons.

It was a rare day that someone wasn't in front of the Weyr gate protesting the existence of dragons or hoping to get a peek at the dragons. For the most part they obeyed the law and were little more than a minor nuisance. But Harry also knew that sooner or later they would attract the attention of a more dangerous protester.

The Weyr finally had its outing in Brighton, much to the delight of the city council and the local press who managed to score an exclusive interview with the Weyrleader. To Harry's intense embarrassment a photo of him in his bathing suit appeared in nearly every paper in the country the following morning. Harry looked at the photo and cringed. He never saw the powerful upper body mass he had built up or his large leg muscles from gripping Cheki. In his mind he always saw the skinny kid that he was before he impressed. Equally baffling and embarrassing were the offers from several magazines for him to do a nude photo-shoot once he turned eighteen.

To make matters worse, when he turned down that offer, both May and Hermione asked if he would be willing to do a private photo-shoot just for them.

The non-magical riders were finally able to return home and not have to hide themselves or their dragons. Unfortunately they had to learn the same painful lesson that the magical riders had learned. They were forevermore dragon riders and there was no real going back. Family would still be family, but there was no common ground anymore between them and their old friends. And worse, sometimes there wasn't even common ground between the rider and their family.

Chekiath came to a gentle landing and slowly furled his wings. He was nearly two feet taller at the shoulder than the next biggest dragon. His landing caused the crowd to fall silent for a moment then the children started cheering as they recognized the most famous dragon on the planet.

From his vantage point on Chekiath, Harry lazily surveyed the crowd. It was the usual, a large group of people and their young children clamoring to see the dragons, a much smaller, but louder group carrying protest signs, usually of a religious nature. And a large group of press and the merely curious that came out to see a dragon in their lifetime.

He smiled and waved to some of the parents and their children, causing their excitement to ratchet up a notch then he turned in his position on Chekiath and lightly dropped to the pavement.

One by one the Wings landed. Most of the dragons remained on the ground long enough to allow their rider to dismount, then they launched skywards again to find a place to perch and watch the spectacle.

This was an event they had planned for and everyone knew what they would do. Lee and Mariah, followed by their dragons, walked over to where the press were anxiously waiting and hoping for a chance to talk to the riders. Hermione, Luna and a handful of other riders walked over to where the parents and their children seemed to be thickest.

Hermione had come up with an idea that Harry wholeheartedly approved of. She and the others each carried a large flat box containing a hundred posters. Each poster contained the ink print of a dragon paw. In the corner of the poster was a photograph of the dragon and the rider along with some information about the pair. Currently they only had posters of Chekiath and the first riders, but plans were in the works for a book compilation similar to a school year book listing dragons and riders.

Skip and Kat had authorized similar posters for Condron's first riders, and several riders from Condron were also present handing out posters to the children and parents. At some Weyr outings they would hand out over a thousand posters and still not be able to meet the demand.

Finally several of the larger Ironbelly and Horntails walked over to where the protesters stood shouting slogans and hurling insults at the riders and their dragons. As they approached, they increased their weight until the ground under their paws trembled. And like usual, the protesters shrank back from the fearsome looking dragons. The dragons then tried to talk to them and explain that they weren't a threat; which was ignored by most of the protesters. It did have a positive effect on the press who quickly realized that the dragons weren't really trying to terrorize anyone. They could hear the dragons trying to explain, and the protesters refusing to acknowledge even the fact that the dragons were talking to them.

The Bulstrode effect was not well known outside of scientific circles, thus a sixty foot long dragon looked like it should shake the ground when it walked.

Talking to the protesters was a powerful piece of counter-propaganda and it had been something Harry came up with. The net result was that the conservative religious groups were finding it hard to justify their actions when they were the ones looking like idiots. Very often the press would follow the dragons who would answer their questions very politely. When the press tried to ask the protesters why they refused to respond to the dragons with anything but shouted slogans and curses; they had no excuses to offer.

It didn't help that the more moderate religious groups were refraining from commenting about dragons entirely. The only religious figure to do so, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that he welcomed the dragons and hoped to meet with them personally someday soon. That was his public statement, but thus far his actions hadn't reflected his public comments.

Campbeltown Weyr now hosted several religious figures, but only Eddie Took was actively trying to convert the riders and dragons. The others had been sent by their superiors to investigate the dragons. It seemed that the presence of intelligent beings other than humans was giving mainstream religions a conundrum that they had no answers to. For the most part, the clergy visiting the Weyr were doing so mainly for fact finding. Few seemed genuinely interested in dragons enough to make any sort of effort.

Harry nodded in greeting to Lobsang. Lobsang was considered a great mystery by the world press. There was intense speculation about the man that wore a Weyrleader's beret, but didn't represent any known Weyr. It caused Maziang no end of private amusement when Lobsang stoically ignored the shouted questions from the press.

His name wasn't known, nor the country which he represented. The only thing known about Maziang was that it was located somewhere in Asia. The Chinese understood that the third Weyr was somewhere in their territory, but they were keeping silent on the issue. The prospect of cheap power was too tempting for them to press the issue about the Weyr on their lands.

Harry and the Weyrleaders stood around talking quietly for nearly a half hour before they were interrupted.

"Weyrleader?"

Harry turned to see a very nervous looking young man in a blue blazer with the UN logo standing nearby. He was trying to catch Harry's attention without getting too close to Chekiath. "Yes?"

"If you and your group will follow me please?"

"Ah they said you'd show us the freight entrance and maintenance tunnel that accesses the assembly chamber," Harry offered.

The young man blinked. "I'm sorry, yes I can show you that way. I had thought that my boss was pulling a joke on me," he blurted out.

Harry chuckled. "I can imagine, but seriously, Chekiath cannot fit through those small doors," he said, pointing to the front entrance.

The man stopped and turned to stare at Harry incredulously. "You mean to bring a dragon into the general assembly chamber?"

Harry grinned at the man who was now sweating bullets. "Oh my my," he muttered to himself, then he turned and dashed off towards a freight entrance around the corner.

Harry motioned to the others and the other three Weyrleaders as well as Campbeltown's Wingleaders fell in behind him. And behind them all, Chekiath rumbled with amusement and followed his rider.

Most of the riders made their way into the building using the regular entrance, but a handful from each Weyr remained outside to keep an eye on the dragons and the people.

The Weyrleaders followed the, by now, very nervous young man who led them through a large maintenance tunnel and out into the large assembly chamber. Harry and the others moved to one side so they could stand beside Chekiath instead of in front of him. Harry was determined to see that his dragon was treated just like any other visiting dignitary.

As soon as they entered the chamber the soft murmur intensified greatly. The room was filling up rapidly and Chekiath's presence sent a ripple of shock throughout the chamber.

"_Harry, the Lord Holder is here,"_ Chekiath announced brightly. _"I like him."_

Harry smiled. "There are a lot of lord holders here mate, not just Prime Minister Major," Harry murmured in reply.

Prime Minister Major looked up from his seat and smiled at the pair and nodded in greeting. Chekiath looked around, the large chamber and spotted another Lord Holder he knew, Condron's Lord Holder. _"This is an important meeting isn't it? I know you said it was important, but I didn't think so many Lord Holders would show up."_

Harry nodded nervously; he also felt his own inner tension ratchet up enormously. Instead of addressing mostly UN Ambassadors, he and his dragon would be speaking to heads of state. This was a special session called by the Secretary General of the United Nations and he had personally invited every country's leader to attend.

The chamber wasn't completely full, several countries were boycotting the meeting in protest, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Argentina and Iran were just some of the countries boycotting the meeting. Others wouldn't have been welcome even if they were present. Both Iraq and North Korea called dragons a hoax. Then they said that _if they existed_, they would shoot down any that entered their airspace.

Harry glanced up towards the visitor's gallery to see his riders filing into their seats. Their dragons were listening via their bond from perches outside the building. Lee smiled and gave him two thumbs up, letting him know that all went well with his talks to the press. Hermione and May sat next to each other, watching him and the people down on the main floor, they had special permission to join Harry once he had spoken but for now they would watch from the VIP gallery. Their pride in Harry was evident in the looks they shot his way, but Harry knew they were quick to keep his feet on the ground. He also knew that one of them had a potion to settle his stomach. There was something about talking in front of a television camera that really bothered him.

The lights flickered and a great many people sat down and reached for a pair of headphones.

"_What are they doing?"_ asked Cheki.

Harry chuckled, "The headphones will let them listen to a translation in their own language. They don't understand that they will hear you in their native language, but they will learn soon enough."

The room fell silent except for Chekiath who continued to rumble at the various people that seemed afraid of him. The huge dragon sat in a position just to the left of Harry and the other Weyrleaders and Wing Leaders. His eyes were spinning rapidly, flashing a mix of blue and green at an alarming rate. Harry and the others knew it meant the dragon was generally happy and finding himself amused by everything going on around him, but the color shifting had a disturbing effect on some of the diplomats who shrank back in their seats.

The lights flickered one last time and then the staff closed the doors. The Secretary General entered the chamber from a side door. He was a short wiry man with gray hair and a bushy mustache. He stepped up to a large podium in the front of the room and spoke for a few minutes in a language that Harry didn't know. Harry looked around frantically for a spare headset with an English label, then Skip handed him one and he placed one of the ear pieces to his ear.

"And so I welcome you all to this extraordinary session of the United Nations as we bear witness and give welcome to the first ever non-human intelligent life to address this body," the secretary general said, then he paused and grinned. "For the past century we have looked to the stars and wondered are we alone. And the answer to that question has been living side by side with us for hundreds of centuries.

"In the five months since the world learned of dragon-kind and their human partners, they have made a huge impact on the world. No doubt you have seen the images of dragons visiting schools, or showing up at the beach in southern England. And no one can claim to be unmoved by the video of the dragon sitting and humming to a group of preschoolers on the English coast."

Harry smiled at that. During their day trip to Brighton Luna and Trandieth had wandered off looking for sea shells. Luna had happened upon a day care center outing where one of the adults was trying to teach the children a song. As she sang, she saw the large dragon curl up in the sand behind the children and the dragon started to hum along with her.

Luna sat down; leaning against her dragon and the children turned around and spotted her and the dragon only feet away. Luna motioned for the woman to keep singing with Trandieth while the children seemed enthralled by the sound.

The local news photographer managed to capture a short video clip of the children humming along with their teacher and the dragon and the video ended up being the lead story for many news organizations that night. Thanks to the Internet, the clip was one of the most watched videos of all time.

Harry glanced up again to the section where his riders were and Luna winked at him. Harry had managed to firmly put Luna in her place with the help of his girls, but she still continued to tease him whenever she could but for now she refrained from suggesting she join his triplet.

"...Including dragon kind into our societies is not without its challenges," Harry heard over the headset. He chastised himself for not paying attention to the Secretary General. "But it is also a rewarding experience for any nation that does so. I have personally met with dragons both from Campbeltown and from the American Weyr.

"And I have been assured by both Weyrleaders and the American government that the only reason why the American Weyr's location still remains a secret is because the facility is still under construction. President Clinton has assured me that sometime next year its location will be revealed.

"I have toured the American facility and like Campbeltown, other than a small guard force, there is no significant military presence, no training of dragons for military purposes."

The Secretary General paused and looked hard at the representatives from several nations. "I have been assured by the dragons themselves that they are forbidden to participate in any weapons research or military actions that are not humanitarian in nature. The Weyrleader has made it perfectly clear to me that the dragons will reach out to help anyone, but will not join any nation's military. I find his attitude refreshing because it extends beyond nations and politics and reaches out to people. As the Weyrleader told me, 'Dragons do not see Americans, or French, or English. They only see people.'

"It is an interesting and refreshing take on global politics that I think we'd all benefit from adopting it. We all know that the Weyr helped the British rescue one of their naval vessels and its crew. We have all seen the television interviews with the crew members and their families. But there are still other stories to tell. Of the dragons that appeared and rescued a fire fighting crew that became trapped by a wild fire in southern California. Or the Irish fishing trawler that was plucked from the North Atlantic, rescuing all on-board and saving the ship.

"A famous Chinese proverb says 'May you live in interesting times.' it is meant to be a curse, but these are very interesting and very positive times if you ask me. And so we come now to a very historic occasion. This is the first time the United Nations will be addressed by an intelligent being other than human.

"The Weyrleader and his dragon will both have something to say. For those of you watching these proceedings on television, you will be provided his comments via your closed caption system as well as a voice over. The dragon's telepathy cannot be picked up by a microphone, but our translators will hear the words and rebroadcast them for you at home.

"For those present in the chamber today you will have the unique experience of hearing the dragon in your own native tongue. The dragons are without a doubt the greatest translators the world has ever seen."

He paused and smiled at the cameras. "Let us welcome to our assembly, the Weyrleader of the dragons, Harry Potter and Chekiath, his bonded dragon."

The assembly broke into a restrained applause and Harry placed the headphone on the table and pulled a microphone closer to him. Chekiath shuffled forward a bit so that his head could rest just over Harry's right shoulder. Due to Chekiath's great size, there was no room for him on the stage where the podium was, so they had set up a table nearby with a microphone for Harry's use.

Harry glanced at a technician who nodded to him. The man had just finished placing a microphone in front of him. He took a deep breath and waited for the chamber to settle down.

"Mister General Secretary, members of the assembly, honored guests and to everyone watching no matter where you are, on behalf of the dragons of Earth I thank you for your most gracious welcome," Harry paused and looked at Chekiath.

"_We are honored to be here and hope that we'll be able to meet with many of you in the near future. A long time ago we came to this world by accident and we managed to survive. What we can remember from that time is painful to us because for all of our intelligence we were created to be partners. A crucial part of us was missing and like a puzzle that was missing a piece, it was incomplete for many turns. Our intellect suffered because of that lack. We dragons call it the 'Time of the Beasts'. We were locked into our own minds unable to understand or be understood by other dragons or people._

"_And then by purest luck I found my Harry. Or perhaps it would be best to say we found each other. There are no words in any language to describe what Harry and I share, or what any rider shares with their dragon. Harry is unique in that he can talk to all dragons and that is perhaps why our bond exploded around the world awakening dragon-kind to what we once were. I know I could not have done that, it was because of my rider._

"_Perhaps if Harry had been just an ordinary rider, the dragons would not have awoken to their heritage and we would not be here today. None of us can say, but we believe only the Weyrleader could have broken us free from that prison._

Harry blushed and fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"_He gave us back our memories and promised he would try to make our world better. We didn't know it at the time. Even I, his bonded dragon, didn't understand that when he said 'our world', he was speaking of not just of a world for dragons, but a world where dragons and humans lived side by side, peacefully, helping each other so that both species may prosper._

"_The past year has been difficult as both riders and dragons had to learn new ways and new things. And the learning continues every day. The Weyr, to survive, must reach out to people and show them that together we are stronger than apart."_

Chekiath paused and looked at Harry, his eyes twirling with nearly a solid green. Harry reached up and gently rubbed Chekiath's head, then he turned back to face the cameras. "Stronger together than apart says my dragon. Humans in partnership with dragon-kind will benefit both groups. That is our goal and our mission," Harry said in a loud voice.

"In the coming year, the United Kingdom, Holland and the United States will break ground on the first commercial 1000 Megawatt power stations run entirely by dragon power. Next year more power stations will be built in the People's Republic of China. The Weyr is licensing the design and currently in negotiations with several countries that would see many more stations constructed in the coming years.

"Campbeltown Weyr has also begun a new research effort to bring smaller and less expensive power stations to developing nations. I have been told that our Slow Decline Thermal Sources or Hot Rocks as they are popularly called, can be used to make a much smaller power station, small enough to fit on the back of a lorry and still provide adequate power to a small village or hospital in a developing country.

"Efforts are being made to reinvent steam engine technology and it is very possible that inner city transportation such as buses and commuter trains will be able to take advantage of smaller and safer steam powered engines. The savings in fossil fuel costs would be considerable.

"The Weyrs will continue to reach out to help with humanitarian efforts. To that effect, Campbeltown is looking to partner with the International Red Cross to provide disaster relief and closer to home, the Royal Coast Guard has joined with the Weyr to utilize dragon riders in search and rescue efforts.

"Several countries are talking to us about bringing a Weyr to their country and we hope to open at least one Weyr in 1997, perhaps more. And while the Weyr has made great strides, there are still things we can do to improve. I wish I could say that dragons are welcome everywhere, but that isn't the case. The countries of Iraq and North Korea have publicly stated that they will attack any dragons they find in their territory or airspace. I will say this and hope it is understood by all. We will respect the wishes of any country that doesn't want dragons to overfly their territory or be on their lands. On the other hand the Weyr reserves the right to do business with only those countries friendly to us.

"The dragons have a saying, 'May you find peace and shelter under our wings'. This is at the heart of what we are and what we represent. Peace and protection. It is our defining characteristic by which every Weyr and every rider will function. We will help our friends when asked, we will do our part to protect both dragon and mankind."

Harry took a half step back and Chekiath moved slightly forward. _"It is our hope that we will be here to help humans for a long time to come. May you always find peace and shelter under our wings."_

There was a moment of shocked silence then Prime Minister Major stood and started to applaud. The movement spread among the delegates like wildfire. Harry nervously looked around at the world leaders who were normally more sedate that this and he shuffled the handful of index cards that contained his speech.

Harry glanced meaningfully at Ronan who stepped forward to intercept people trying to get to Harry. He turned and stepped from the room and made a beeline for the nearest bathroom. A few minutes later he stepped from the bathroom and wiped at his mouth with a piece of paper towel. May and Hermione were waiting for him. In Hermione's hands was a small single dose vial of a stomach calming potion. Harry reached for the potion when he froze.

"_I don't like this,"_ Chekiath announced suddenly. _"First you get sick, now I feel like my breakfast cow is still moving in my belly."_

Harry opened his mouth to reply when the huge dragon blinked out of room leaving behind a puff of super chilled air.

"Did he just jump Between without going airborne?" exclaimed Hermione.

Harry clutched at his stomach and grimaced as he felt a wave of nausea wash over him from his bond. "No he jumps slightly before he's..."

Harry's vision faded and he gagged again. Suddenly he had a brief impression of a terrified man leaping off a pier, then he was back in his own body looking at Hermione.

Hermione paled and shoved the potion into his hands. "Drink that," she ordered, she didn't want to consider what a dragon throwing up would be like. Nor did she want to know what it would be like to experience that via her bond.

"Cheki are you alright?" May asked worriedly.

"_I am now, but I think I scared a fisherman, he jumped into the water when I appeared. I plucked him out of the river once I was done revisiting breakfast,"_ Chekiath replied in relief. _"I don't like doing that Harry. I don't think I want to speak to the world again maybe I should leave that to you."_

Several people passing by looked at them as if they were odd. Chekiath had left the building and there were several city blocks of noise between them and the river. What only a rider understood was that the dragons could hear through their riders just like their riders could see through their dragon's eyes.

Harry recapped the empty potion bottle and shoved it in his pocket, "I hear that mate, but we can't avoid it entirely. I'll try to make them few and far between I promise."

"Harry are you alright?" asked Prime Minister Major.

Hermione turned and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Post speech jitters Minister, he and Chekiath will be fine in a moment."

Harry nodded. "I'll be fine sir, just give me a minute and I'll rejoin you in the general assembly chamber."

Major smiled knowingly, Harry wasn't the first famous person to get sick after giving a speech. "Very well, I'll let everyone know you and Chekiath are fine."

Harry watched him walk off and then he kissed Hermione's cheek. "Thank you for the potion. I should get back inside. May would you grab a few riders and send them out to escort Chekiath back into the building? He can't open those doors without breaking them down."

Hermione nodded and May laughed quietly to herself. When May rejoined Hermione a few minutes later she saw Hermione glaring down a bunch of young women, most of whom were either were part of the press corps or were part of the United Nations staff.

"What's got your wings flapping?" she asked.

"Them," Hermione said, jerking her chin towards the ladies who were staring at Harry as if he were a meal and they were starving. The fact that the youngest among the women was at least six years older than Harry didn't seem to bother them at all. It was only the fact that Harry paid no attention to them that kept Hermione from going over there. It also surprised her just how possessive she could be to other females, except for May and wondered what that meant.

"Oh," May said unhappily, taking in the scene. May agreed with Hermione in this case, most of the women were older than they were and more attractive in her mind. It didn't help that both Hermione and May could understand the attraction. Harry was powerfully built despite his short stature, and if that wasn't enough, he literally exuded a confidence in public that astounded both girls.

"You do know you're both being silly. Worrying over something that can't happen," said a familiar voice.

They turned to see Susan Bones standing behind them, her arms crossed under her breasts and eyeing them disdainfully. "What do you mean Sue?" asked May, embarrassed by being caught.

"Your dragons are the consorts of Harry's dragon. That automatically makes you more appealing to Harry than any five of those women combined. Then on top of that Harry loves you two, look at him, has he given any indication that he even knows they are there?"

Hermione shook her head. Harry was far too busy talking with representatives from Peru, Britain and China. He never noticed the cluster of females standing nearby. They didn't get too close because of Chekiath, but this wasn't the first time May and Hermione had seen the effect of their Harry on other women.

"Of course he hasn't," Susan answered for her. "You have far more to worry about from Luna and me than you do from those girls and honestly, Luna and I don't stand a chance. Every female rider knows Harry's untouchable, and well Luna does too even if she gets a kick out of getting a rise out of Harry."

Hermione and May exchanged an amused grin. Luna had cut way back on her teasing of Harry. She would still do it, but after Harry decided to fight back Luna decided that playing with fire just might get her burned.

"Yeah," May said with a slight snigger, "Luna learned her lesson. Push Harry hard enough and he pushes back."

"I've watched Harry when he thinks no one is looking, he watches you two intently," Susan said. "You can see a weird mix of emotions on his face when he does. Love, pride, surprise, even occasionally a look of hunger too. Not a single girl in the Weyr gets those looks from him, and Chekiath is the only other being he looks at with love in his gaze. If he's not going to look at the girls he deals with daily, he's not going to be aware of that pack of women. Its only your own insecurity that makes you doubt your relationship, not Harry."

Susan jerked a thumb towards the pack of women standing nearby.

May glanced back at where Harry stood, smiling for the cameras with Prime Minister Major on his left and the Peruvian President on his right. Harry was taller than the president, but not by a lot. He suddenly turned his head and looked at her, giving her a gentle smile that she rarely saw outside of the privacy of their home. "You know, I always thought I would go for a taller man, but," she trailed off and sighed causing Susan to laugh at her.

May glanced over at Susan who smiled brightly. "You forget I know how well he is built. He'll never be tall, but he does have an impressive set of chest muscles. Look May, you still have nothing to worry about. I knew when I went to him that he didn't love me. I'm still surprised at how things worked themselves out."

"Us too," Hermione added with a blush.

"If you three are finished gossiping, I would like a word," said a voice officiously.

All three girls turned to see a man in a three piece suit, standing there looking at them with a very unfriendly expression on his face.

"And you are?" asked Hermione.

The man flashed them a badge. "My name is John Reson, Agent Reson, United States Department of Immigration, customs division. Not a single one of you stopped at an approved customs inspection point before entering the country. None of you filed a formal customs declaration and since you haven't presented any passports I have to assume you're here illegally. I don't want to cause a scene, but I'm afraid you'll have to come along with me. There are buses outside waiting to take you all to the Manhattan federal building."

"And the fact that we came here to witness our Weyrleader address the United Nations today has no meaning?" asked May incredulously.

"Or the fact that you have no jurisdiction anywhere on this property?" Hermione asked archly. The UN building was officially neutral territory. The building and the block it stood on were not subject to any local laws.

Reson opened his mouth to reply when another voice cut across the floor from nearby. "You've got to be kidding me!?" exclaimed Skip Taylor who had been standing nearby talking with Lobsang. "Jasper! Jasper! Will you call off this pencil necked geek before I have a dragon dump him in the Hudson river?"

Jasper Brady hurried over and pulled out his identification. As Weyr liaison to the US Government he was placed into a position that put him as officially attached to the White House staff even though he was still working for the Department of Magic.

Harry knew there was a problem and Chekiath was slowly making his way over to see what was going on. He would have gone himself, but the President of France and the Ambassador from Ecuador both wanted to talk to him about opening a Weyr in their countries.

Ecuador had a much better chance of having a Weyr than France did. There were several south American Weyrs that were unsafe and needed to be relocated. But there were no dragon reserves in France and none in Europe that needed to be relocated. That meant that France would probably never have a Weyr of it's own. Or at least not in the near future.

Harry wasn't opposed to opening new manned Weyrs, but he wanted to limit the number of dragons who consumed large quantities of livestock. Too many dragons and they would begin impacting human food stocks. Right now he had a goal of ten thousand paired dragons beyond the non-bonded remaining dragons. Once he achieved that he would reexamine the situation and see if more dragon riders were feasible.

"What seems to be the problem?" asked Jasper. No one noticed the slight flexing of his wrist and his wand sticking out about an inch from the cuff of his suit jacket.

Reson looked at the offered ID and swallowed nervously. "I'm stationed at the Manhattan office. We got a call about these people just appearing, supposedly they are from the United Kingdom, but they never went through customs."

Brady shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Reson trailed off in confusion and Brady slipped his wand back into his holster. "Go back to your office and tell them it was a big mistake. It's all taken care of. All of the people in question are here by personal invitation of the President himself. Besides our office has duly noted their entry even if your office hasn't received notice of such."

Reson nodded and wandered away. Hermione looked at Brady with a touch of awe, he had cast a confundus hex on the man and she never saw him draw his wand!

"I hate doing that, but sometimes I think we breed idiots just to staff the bureaucracy. I personally sent a memo two weeks ago to the state department telling them to inform the local offices, it seems that someone forgot to pass along the memo," Jasper muttered, then he turned to May and Hermione. "You need to tell Harry that from now on every rider needs to carry their passport when they go out of the country. I'll clear it with immigration this time, but some countries can be really hard to deal with. You don't want to give them an excuse to arrest anyone."

"They won't need it if they come to Condron," Skip declared.

Jasper glanced over at him and smiled. "No Skip I suppose they won't. But it is a good habit to have and they would need it if they left the Weyr," he said, then he grew pensive. "I suppose this is one of the issues we'll have to bring up at an international level. Normally we track people because they enter or leave a country via a specific point. It's not usual for people to be able to arrive anywhere within your territory."

"We'll tell Harry," May offered. "To be honest it never occurred to me to bring my passport. We all have them, but I know mine is sitting in my top dresser drawer at home."

"Mine is in my desk, but look, Harry's free, I'll go speak to him now about this. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want this to cause any problems for anyone," Hermione added.

Jasper nodded and looked over to see Harry leaning against a wall, scribbling in his notebook. Hermione went over to speak to Harry and after a few minutes of intense discussion, she returned to Jasper with a rather impish grin.

"What's that grin for?" he asked warily. If there was one thing he had learned about dragons and their riders is that they enjoyed pushing things to the limit.

"Harry says that the Weyrs will happily conform to the laws, but he asked where can he apply for Chekiath's passport? Then he went on to rightly point out that at a very minimum, bonded dragons should have passports since the non-bonded tend to rarely leave the territory around their Weyrs, but a bonded dragon goes where their rider goes," Hermione said.

She didn't have the heart to tell Jasper that Harry had written a note in his book about the Weyr issuing their own passports instead of using one from the host country.

Jasper removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. This was exactly the kind of thing that the riders were becoming famous for. As a whole they pushed for equality for their dragons whenever the opportunity arose.

So far, Condron Weyr had forced the American Federal Aviation Administration to issue waivers to dragon-kind exempting them from the need for standard "on-board avionics" and from VFR and IFR flight regulations and the riders were exempted from the need to hold a pilot's license. The FAA reluctantly issued a new classification since dragons didn't fall into the category of Ultra Lights, or private aircraft, no dragons were classified as biologicals. Skip suggested that the FAA issue a pilot's license to each dragon, but the FAA refused to even consider the idea.

These changes wouldn't have happened except that a dragon from Condron had landed at a regional airport to rest and get some water. The rider had been yelled at by Skip and Kat, but the damage was done and the local officials were upset that the dragon wasn't "flight certified".

Skip and Kat hadn't been angry about the boy landing his dragon at an airport. What concerned them was the fact that he had let the dragon become so exhausted he needed to rest at a public airport which happened to be handy.

The whole thing would have probably been ignored, but one of the airport employees was a member of a religious group that had been protesting dragons since they were announced to the world. Having a dragon land at the airport allowed for him to file an official complaint which got the FAA involved.

Jasper smiled, "The Weyrleader raises an interesting point, but I'm not sure customs agencies are ready to issue passports for dragons just yet. You can assure him however that I will raise the point with my government."

Dragons were proving to be a problem for most bureaucracies and it was an issue that Jasper and James Mills had to deal with nearly every day.

Hermione smiled and kept silent. Jasper might not think that the national custom agencies would be issuing passports to dragons, but the Weyrs might if Harry had his way.

* * *

**Author's notes and Mockeries...**

***** The expected update schedule will be one chapter every two weeks. As I write these notes I have enough material for roughly 11 chapters.

***** If this chapter left you dazed and confused, then you need to go back to the two earlier stories and read them first. In order, these stories are;

Part 1 - The Queen who fell to Earth

Part 2 - On the Wings of Dragons

If you have read those two stories and are still dazed and confused, it's not our fault. We told you to wear a seat belt and you refused! Besides, look at that bruise on your forehead and the way your nose is bent. Don't blame us bucko!

***** To all the people that decided not to pm, or leave a review bugging me about this story, I thank you. Until the day comes when I can get paid for doing this, no one has the right to complain when real life interferes with something you're getting for free.

***** To all the people that DID pm or leave reviews bugging me, I say only this. Bugger off! Er, no seriously folks, you're getting this for free, just be thankful you're getting it at all. Remember next time that fan fiction authors are just people like you and we have lives with our own personal dramas.

***** As always, unsigned reviews are deleted. You could be Jesus Christ and if you don't log in to leave a signed review I'm going to delete it.

***** As usual each chapter is roughly 30 printed pages. If you can't handle a mere 15K word chapter then I'm sure your local bookstore still carries the Dick and Jane pre-school readers. Honestly though, didn't you even once wonder why Jane insisted on hanging out with a Dick?

***** This bullet point has been intentionally left blank.

***** The above bullet point is available for rent and comes with a complimentary Llama costume and a part in Alyx's movie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Standard disclaimer:**

Alyx paced back and forth nervously on the stage. Every so often she'd glance out at the audience and cringe as the theater slowly filled. Finally after several more minutes of pacing she sighed and turned to the audience.

"I'm afraid I have to apologize to everyone. Apparently some people didn't care much for the Incredible Who Who epic, and even worse, thought the idea of Tom Cruise starring in a musical based on the epic was outrageous," Alyx said, then she fought back a sniffle.

"Bob has threatened to take away my power tools if I continue with the idea. So, reluctantly and under protest, I am giving up on any Who who movie idea and no longer writing a sequel to the Who who epic. Instead I will open it up to fan fiction writers."

"Wait! Wait! That's not what we agreed!" Bob shouted from offstage. A moment later he emerged from the right because everyone knows that stage left is the exit side. "You never said anything about opening it up to fan fiction! Don't you know what fan fiction writers will do to your Who Who Whuinverse?"

Alyx stared at Bob in shock. "No what?" she asked tremulously.

Bob leaned in closer and looked around carefully to make sure no one was listening, then he switched on his microphone so everyone could clearly hear him.

"They will totally ruin it! They will turn Draco and Snape straight! What will happen in your Whuniverse if your characters like girls?! Just imagine, someone writes a story where Snape and Delores Umbridge fall in love and have... sex! They could hook Draco up with a Dominatrix McGonagall!"

Alyx gasped and fainted.

Bob smirked at her still form, then winked at the audience. "God I love this job," he muttered to himself.

Bob waved to a convenient, unnamed, stagehand and a small pack/herd/flock/pod of llamas were herded/shoved/pushed/stampeded onto the stage. While the stagehand was llama herding/shoving/pushing/stampeding, Bob was busy gluing strips of llama wool to the now sleeping Alyx.

Finally Bob straightened up and faced the audience. "Alyx needs a new focus to help her tell you that we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern. So with the demise of her Who who I'm going to let her think she is now a victim of the incredibly rare (and just recently invented for the purposes of this disclaimer) Llamacanthropy disease."

Bob chuckled and walked off the stage as the Llamas settled in around Alyx for a nice nap.

"Enjoy the chapter folks, but be warned. Have some hankies handy!" Bob called from off stage. "I hope she doesn't think she is a llama otherwise she'll join the pack/herd/flock/pod. Then who will I have to amuse me?"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies**

**Chapter 2**

**Life Goes On**

* * *

**The Burrow, December 31s****t,**** 1996...**

"You wanted to talk to us dad?"

Arthur looked up from his newspaper and smiled at his family. He had called for a meeting of everyone available so he could speak to them before their guests arrived. Placing his paper down on the table he motioned for everyone to sit. "Yes I called you here to let you know that later today we'll be having some guests visiting. I've invited Harry and his two girlfriends here for dinner."

"Here?" exclaimed Ginny in dismay. Ginny wasn't proud of how she had acted the last few times she had met up with Harry. She understood that she'd never have a relationship with Harry now, however now she'd be confronted not only with Harry, but also with the reality of his unusual relationship.

Molly clucked her tongue and shook her head. Harry had taken up with two girls and she didn't approve of that at all. Remus had spoken to her, explaining in detail what kind of relationship was involved and she knew in a way this wasn't something Harry had deliberately chose for himself. Despite the explanation she still didn't really approve of what Harry was doing.

She had considered talking to Harry when she saw him at Buckingham Palace, but they never got the chance to say more than hello before Harry was whisked away to be introduced to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The one time she tried to bring up the subject with Harry, he had stepped on her hard, but the issue had been quickly forgotten in the wake of the attack on the Hogsmeade school.

It bothered Molly, but she wasn't sure it bothered her because she always hoped Harry and Ginny might get together or it bothered her on some moral grounds. She now understood the situation better, and was resolved to do something very different than anyone expected. She would hold her tongue and not bring it up.

"Yes, here," Arthur said a bit sternly. "Might I remind you that you owe your life to that young man. I invited Harry, Hermione and May here for dinner. Harry graciously accepted. Mind you, the Weyr and the Weyrleader have become internationally famous. You know that your mother and I attended a feast at Buckingham Palace on Boxing day. Harry was there and despite the good face he put on it, I could tell he hated every second of the day. He was there at the personal invitation of the Queen. Harry has attracted a lot of attention, in both worlds, but here it will be different.

"Here he will be just Harry, the same boy we've known and loved for years. And while I might wish things had gone differently for him I am happy for him because he's found a meaning to his life. Some of us go through our entire lives and never find that meaning."

Ron looked away, his father had been pointedly looking at him when he spoke. Ron had drastically improved his grades at school, but he still had little idea about what he wanted to do with his life.

"Just treat Harry like you normally would," He said to them all, and then he turned to the twins. "One of the girls accompanying Harry is a muggle which means that ordinarily she'd be defenseless against your pranks. But I'm told her dragon will protect her and she does have one of the largest dragons in the world. Both Hermione and May have dragons that are at the very top of the Emperor Horntail class. And I understand that Harry's dragon is very protective of his mate's riders; his dragon far exceeds the Emperor Horntail size limits."

Fred and George swallowed nervously and promised they would keep any demonstrations to simple stuff that was easy to fix.

Arthur smiled and nodded to them. They were truly good lads, even if they did let their enthusiasm get away from them now and then.

"Molly are you going to be alright with this?" he asked.

Molly dried her hands on a dish towel and sighed heavily. "I don't care for it, but ever since you asked Remus Lupin to explain it I understand it better. Remus said it best when he said that even if Harry had a single girlfriend, his dragon would always be part of that relationship. So it's not Harry and two girls, it's Harry, two girls and three dragons. It's six people trying to make a family," she said then she smiled softly at her family. Family was something she could understand right down to her toes. "That was another thing that Remus stressed, the dragons were a driving force behind the arrangement. He said that all three had a great deal of difficulty in the beginning. It's very different than what we're used to and I'm sure it's very different from what Harry and Hermione were were expecting for themselves. I think the only thing at this point that makes me uncomfortable at this point is this muggle girl."

Arthur nodded knowingly. He knew Molly would have problems with a muggle. She had a cousin that was a squib that she almost never talked about. To her a muggle might as well be a creature from another planet. She didn't hate muggles like some pure bloods, but they made her uncomfortable. She didn't know if she should admire them for surviving without magic or pity them. Arthur allowed her this foible only because she was being forced to confront it almost daily due to his position in the Ministry. Her attitude was being slowly eroded away with each passing day.

In a way Molly Weasley personified most of the pure-bloods of Britain, despite her husband's interests, she knew next to nothing about mundane society or it's accomplishments. His job was opening her eyes to the greater world and tearing at her conceptions of what life outside of magic was like.

"She's a very nice girl Molly. The only difference is she can't do magic," Arthur said gently. "What would you do if Charlie brought home a muggle girl?"

Molly nodded and smiled weakly. Charlie was in fact dating a squib who was a daughter of one of his fellow workers so the question was one she had already asked herself. "I know and I see what you're saying Arthur. It's just that I'm not used to mingling with muggles. Who knows, I might even like her once I get to know her."

Arthur leaned back in his chair and relaxed, Molly was his biggest worry. With Molly taken care of he turned to his youngest two children. "Well?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't have any problems seeing them. I'm not all that proud of some of the things I've done. Harry and I will probably never be best mates again, but I'm glad for the chance to see them again."

"Ginny?"

Ginny bowed her head and she wiped at her eye. "I won't cause any trouble for Harry."

Arthur leaned forward in his chair and rested an elbow on the table. "Pumpkin," he said.

"I know," she said harshly, and then her face flushed with shame. "I'm sorry, but it hurts you know?"

Arthur nodded sympathetically, "I know. I suppose I'm partially to blame for this. I read you all those stories when you were growing up."

Ginny looked up at him. "Oh no Daddy, I knew he wasn't the same boy as the one in the stories. He was even better. He killed a monster to save me! Little Ginny Weasley who couldn't even talk to him!"

Ginny sighed and wiped at her face again, then she smiled weakly and squared her shoulders. "I'm glad he's happy and glad that he's with Hermione. At least that way it's like he's still part of our family."

"That's the spirit Ginny," Fred said brightly.

"Yeah, our Harry had to find two girls to get as good as one Weasley," offered George as he poked Ginny in the shoulder.

"Probably needs three cooks too, since our Gin Gin here is nearly as good as mum," Fred added.

"And he has to deal with four cold feet instead of two!" George said. Ginny's feet were always cold and she had developed them into weapons whenever she had been tasked with waking her brothers for breakfast.

Arthur frowned, but Ginny giggled weakly. He relaxed when he saw what his sons were doing. Once again the Weasley family worked to help one of their own as the twins kidded and joked Ginny into a better mood.

"Percy?" he asked.

Percy smiled at his father and shook his head. The young man had undergone an ordeal that few had survived. It changed him greatly. Percy was much more considerate and personable these days than he used to be. "I don't have a problem with it father," he said softly. "The Weyr protected our family when those terrorists attacked the school, and they also protected Penelope who was at the school with her mentor that day. I can't say anything against that. I just wish Charlie could see it the way we do."

Arthur nodded, his son Charlie was a former dragon handler who still refused to acknowledge that dragons were intelligent despite the evidence. It was something that severely strained his relationship with his own family.

Molly smiled softly at Percy. She was so proud of him. And now that he had announced his engagement to Penelope she was tickled pink. Percy would be her first son to settle down and get married. She approved of Penelope who was a sweet girl that was studying to become a teacher. Her goal was to become a new type of teacher, introducing simple magic to pre-Hogwarts students as part of a Magical History and Techniques class. It was a new idea to the British wizards, but it was common around the world where most countries started their children casting magic as early as nine years old.

Arthur leaned back and looked at his family. Molly returned his smile and reached for his hand causing him to relax even further. He had been very worried about Harry coming here for dinner. He truly cared for the lad and considered him more like a son than an honorary Weasley or close family friend. Although no one knew it, after first year he had sounded Albus out about taking Harry into his home, but Albus had told him it was necessary for Harry to return to his family each year.

Satisfied that his family would behave, he went to pick up his paper and finish enjoying his tea. The rest of the family wandered off and Molly put the wireless on to a music station.

Arthur's hand snaked around the paper reaching and Molly quickly placed a plate of cookies within his reach. He grabbed a cookie and smiled to himself. Molly could be opinionated and obstinate, but she really was a gentle person deep down.

A few minutes later the sound of wings flapping drew his attention away from an article concerning a broom recall. Standing he peered out a window and smiled broadly. "Our guests have arrived, shall we go greet them?" he said to Molly.

Molly nodded a bit apprehensively. She knew dragons wouldn't hurt her, but that wasn't how she was raised. It was hard to put aside a fear she had grown up with. She put a shawl on and followed Arthur out the back door.

Molly edged a little closer to Arthur while Harry stood under Comaloth. Hermione reached into a silver colored thermal bag that she carried and extracted a bundle of flowers which she floated down to Harry, and then she turned in her seat and slithered down the side of her dragon.

Harry watched in amusement for a moment, then he glanced over to see May was also enjoying Hermione's effort to avoid falling. She had managed to put her fear of flying behind her, but nothing would take away her fear of falling. Hermione wasn't the only rider to resort to using a short knotted rope to help lower herself to the ground. Some of the Horntails stood fifteen feet tall at the shoulders, and Chekiath stood nearly seventeen feet tall.

All of the dragons lowered themselves so their riders could easily mount and dismount, but Hermione and a few others used a rope to steady their dismount. Even with the rope, and the dragons helping their riders, the distance to the ground still intimidated some of the riders.

Harry waited until Hermione was down, then he turned and smiled at the Weasleys. He stepped up to Molly and handed her the flowers and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hello Mrs Weasley, we brought you these," he said softly.

"Oh my goodness! Orchids, you remembered!" she exclaimed happily.

"Where did you get orchids at this time of year?" asked Arthur.

"Of course I remembered Mrs. Weasley. I remember de-gnoming your garden with Ron and while you grew mostly vegetables, you had one section reserved for roses and orchids. Ron told me how much effort you had to go through to make orchids grow in English weather and soil. As to where, these are courtesy of Nevado del Huila Weyr in Columbia, South America. I asked the dragons to look for the flowers and we picked them just before we came," Harry said.

May chuckled, "I tried to get them to go to a florist shop, but they insisted on doing it themselves."

"Well however you did it, thank you," Molly said, deeply moved by the gesture. No one had ever gone to another country before just to get her some flowers. "They are beautiful."

Arthur shook his head, and then he looked over Harry's shoulder to Chekiath. "Welcome to the Burrow Chekiath, I'm sorry but I don't remember the names of your consorts."

Cheki turned and eyed the man, his amusement was clearly showing in his eyes. _"Comaloth and Trath are my mated consorts holder Weasley, and we thank you for your welcome. __I spotted__ a small lake nearby if you don't mind, we'll wait for our riders there."_

The dragons were still struggling with names for people, but Harry had described the Burrow to Cheki who decided that Arthur fit into the category of Holder. The title of holder was apt as a land owner, and good enough for this situation. Harry was grateful he had managed to convince the dragons to use a formal title like Sir or Ma'am for most meetings if they didn't know their name. In Arthur's case, Harry told Chekiath that it was acceptable to call him by his title and last name.

Pern had a rigid class system that allowed for very structured names and or titles. Unfortunately modern society had far too many occupations and titles which had no Pern equivalent.

Arthur blinked in surprise. "But the lake is frozen over!" he protested.

"They recently discovered a muggle sport that they greatly enjoy," Hermione replied. "Of course they can't wear real ice skates, but they enjoy sliding along the ice anyway. And the cold doesn't bother them like it does humans."

Harry eyed his dragon and shook his head. He suspected that while he sat down for dinner with the Weasleys, his dragon would have two back to back shagging flights. He sighed and knew that he'd just have to endure it. While no rider exhibited the mating frenzy after their first shagging flight, all of the riders were still affected by their dragons.

May leaned into him and smiled impishly. "You know they aren't just going skating don't you."

He nodded and replied quietly, "Yeah Cheki's just doing it because he thinks it's funny."

The Weasleys were busy questioning Hermione about the dragons and not paying attention to the pair.

She hugged his arm tightly. "Don't worry about it, we'll deal with it later," she murmured.

Harry nodded and he stepped a bit closer to Hermione. Molly looked at the three and suddenly realized they were standing out in her backyard in a half a foot of snow. "Goodness!" she exclaimed, "let's get out of this cold. Come along now, I have some hot cocoa waiting and dinner will be ready soon. Everyone is just so excited to have you visit."

May paused in her stride and really looked at the Burrow. "How does that stay up?" she whispered to herself. The building had a decided lean to it, and looked like it had been patched many times over it's history. It may have appeared to be unstable, but it was clearly well maintained by the Weasley family.

"Magic," Harry replied gently from behind her. "It's a magical place powered by a loving family."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently nudged her towards the open door and its welcoming warmth. She smiled over her shoulder at him and followed Hermione into the house that looked like it was ready to fly apart any minute.

Harry paused at the threshold of the door and turned to look out over the yard with a wistful smile. The garden extended towards a small grove of apple trees in one direction and an open field in another.

"Harry?" asked Arthur worriedly.

Harry turned and shrugged. "I used to think this was a perfect place to grow up. So different from Privet drive and my cupboard." he admitted. "Sometimes I was so jealous of Ron for what he had, you can't put a price on family. My time here was some of the best times I ever had before I met Cheki."

He paused and took a deep breath of the crisp winter air. "It's still perfect. I envy that," he said with a wistful smile.

Arthur returned the smile. "Well you'll always be welcome here. And you'll always be just Harry here."

Arthur motioned for Harry to enter, and then he followed him inside.

Harry looked surprised to see Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Percy looking at him with shocked expressions. They obviously heard his comment. Harry smiled weakly and absently scuffed a foot on the floor. He hadn't expected others to hear him.

Ginny broke the ice by stepping forward and giving Harry a hug. "I expect that someday the Weasley grandkids will be playing with their Potter cousins here at the Burrow. Happy New Year Harry, it's good to see you again."

She quickly let go of him and repeated the hug with Hermione before turning to May. "I'm Ginny Weasley. I'm the smart, good looking, Weasley," she proclaimed with an impish smile.

"Oi now!" yelped Fred. "I'm the good looking one!"

"No! You're the evil twin, I'm the good twin," George told him.

"Good or evil, you're both insane," Ginny added.

May looked a little bewildered and Harry stepped next to her. He pointed to the twins with a finger. "This is Fred and George. Even they don't know which one is really which. Do not eat or drink anything they offer you," he said to May, then he turned to the twins. "May's bond mate is a sixty eight foot long, twelve ton dragon who would be very unhappy if you turn her rider into a canary. I have personally seen her dragon swallow a six hundred pound pig whole."

The twins paled and looked at May a bit fearfully.

"_That's not true __Harry__, I did chew it a bit,"_ Trath announced to everyone's surprise. Hermione and Harry started to chuckle.

"Harry," May chided. "I'm sure they'll behave. Lee warned me about them."

"And we'll protect you if need be. I know a new hex I've been itching to try out," Hermione added, eyeing the pair evilly.

The twins looked at Hermione for a moment, and then turned to Harry. "What have you done with Hermione?" cried George.

Ron doubled over with laughter and Hermione stared at the twins, her arms crossed and one foot tapping in annoyance.

"Yes can you do the same to Percy?" asked Fred teasingly.

"Hey now!" exclaimed Percy.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Hermione, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Harry stepped over to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her from behind. She tried to look at him and saw he was trying hard not to laugh. "Why are you laughing?" she demanded to know.

Ron straightened up and grinned at Harry. "I don't know how you did it mate, but she's human now."

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she looked at Ron who took a step back. "Hermione," he said with a bit of a whine, "you would have never threatened anyone when you were at school. You were too interested in observing the rules."

"He's right," Harry said softly, "but if you ask me, this Hermione is an improvement over something that was very good to start with."

Hermione's expression cycled through several emotions, pleasure and embarrassment over Harry's compliment mostly. She relaxed and leaned back against him more. "I can't take credit for it," Harry said. "I think her dragon wanted her to have more fun."

"_She does have fun now that she has you __Harry__,"_ Comaloth added.

Hermione blushed and looked down at the floor.

"We're only teasing you," Harry whispered. She looked up and smiled.

"Just remember I know more spells than you do," she said with a smile.

"Alright you lot, let's get the table set. The roast is just about ready," Molly proclaimed with a smile at their antics.

Arthur nodded, he was relieved that this was going better than he expected. He sat in his favorite chair as everyone scattered to do Molly's bidding and felt content. He wanted Harry to consider this place a home and it was clear he did.

As the group left the room he noted May standing uncertainly near the fireplace.

"May, please sit and relax, dinner will be ready shortly," he said in a kindly tone.

May sat and looked around the room, her eyes widened when she saw an animated painting.

"I know this seems very strange to you May," Arthur said, "but when you consider it, your world seems very strange to us as well. I've taken classes about the mundane world and I still don't understand most of it."

May smiled softly and nodded. "Its amazing how there can be two worlds living side by side and still be so ignorant of each other."

Arthur chuckled in reply. "Can I ask you a question?"

May blinked in surprise and nodded warily. "I suppose."

"Is Harry happy? Molly and I have worried about him since he first stepped foot in our home years ago. I even tried to talk Albus into letting us foster him after I met him, but Albus said that wasn't possible."

"I never knew that!" Harry exclaimed from the doorway. He held a pile of dishes in his hands.

Arthur grimaced slightly and turned to Harry. "I didn't tell you because nothing came of it. It was clear that something wasn't right at home for you lad. Even back then Molly and I saw it."

Harry's eyes glistened and he nodded silently. May stood and took the plates from his hands. "This is what Hermione and I have been telling you sweetheart. Its only you that feels you're not good enough for people to love."

She kissed his cheek and passed by him into the kitchen area leaving Arthur and Harry alone.

Arthur grinned widely. "Well that answers my question and puts my mind at ease. I do want you to know one thing Harry. No matter where you go, no matter where your extraordinary life takes you. The Burrow is and always will be your home too. You'll have family here."

Arthur stood and walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now, let's go see what magic Molly has performed in her kitchen."

**Campbeltown Weyr, January 20th, 1997...**

Reginald Smithers trudged through the light snow, his feet making a crunching sound that was nearly lost in the noise created by the frigid wind that whipped past him. He sniffled miserably in the cold night air and wished he had followed his father's footsteps and took up potion making instead of opting for a job in the Ministry of Magic.

Reginald was not an auror despite working for the DMLE. Nothing so exciting for the short wizard with a permanent frightened expression. No, he was more important than a mere auror in his opinion. Reginald was the Ministry's only Ward breaker remaining from the old ministry.

He was sick the day the Ministry warding team attacked the Tuscany townhouse in London. In a single explosion his entire department had been wiped out and what remained was absorbed into the DMLE. In a single stroke he became the department's senior ward and curse breaker.

Now he had an utterly miserable assignment that came from the office of the Minister himself. He was supposed to perform an analysis on the wards surrounding the Weyr at Campbeltown and he was to do it covertly.

He had done few covert ward analysis jobs in the past, mostly sticking to breaking or designing wards. So he had only a little experience in covert work.

Reginald topped the small rise and stopped. The Weyr was ahead, just a half a kilometer away. It was impossible to miss as the Weyr was well lit despite the late hour. Even at this hour it was possible to see a land rover cruising along the fence line. It was obvious to Reginald that it was some kind of muggle patrol because no self respecting wizard would be inside one of those muggle contraptions.

Pulling his invisibility cloak tighter around him he increased his pace. He wanted to get this done with and get home where his warm bed waited for him.

With only his feet making any noise he crept towards the fence line. He stopped about a hundred meters away and carefully looked around before removing his invisibility cloak. The cloak would interfere with his analysis spells and wand movements. From his position he could clearly see the fence surrounding the Weyr and the lit roadway that followed the edge of the fence line. He was back far enough that he was certain that the patrol wouldn't see him. He didn't want to approach too closely or he might trigger the wards he intended to analyze.

"All right Reg, let's get this done so we can go home," he muttered to himself.

"_And just what is it that you intend to do?"_ asked a voice.

Reginald turned slowly around. Behind him in the snow stood a dragon with a rider on it's back. The rider held his crossbow in her hand. Reginald panicked and fumbled for his wand, then the rider fired her crossbow. Reginald had barely started to spin into his apparate when he was hit by the stunning bolt and he collapsed to the ground.

Cary Cayouette leaned back and relaxed slightly. "What do you suppose that was all about sweetie?"

Heeth moved closer to the unconscious man and nudged him with her snout. _"I don't know Cary, but he was up to no good."_

Cary nodded. She was a witch from the second impression, a former student of Madam Merlinas school for young Witches and the substitute Wing second for Wing four. "He's a wizard," she mused aloud.

"_And he has an ugly wand,"_ Heeth hissed angrily.

Cary blinked and her eyes hardened. She wasn't a powerful witch like some of the others in the Weyr, but she had enough power for this. She pulled her wand from her holster. The wizard carried at least one wand that used a dragon heart string.

"Accio wands!" she snapped. A student of Remus Lupin and his defense class, she knew she should summon more than one wand.

Two wands flew from the wizard, tearing through his clothing. They landed in her hand and she shivered in revulsion. Quickly she tossed them off to one side. "Burn them both sweetie," she said.

"_With pleasure,"_ Heeth said with a low growl.

Heeth turned her head and flamed the area where the wands fell. Harry had a standing order that any unattended heart string wands they come across were be destroyed and Cary was happy to follow that order. After all the wands were laying in the snow and were clearly unattended.

Cary watched the smoking ground for a moment, then she turned her attention back to the unconscious man. She knew that it was probable that the security patrol saw the fire, but she wanted to be thorough. "Sweetie, contact Soranth and let him know we've captured a wizard trying to sneak up on the fence line. Let Lee know we're on the south side, near fence post fourteen."

Lee was not only her Wing leader, but he was the senior rider for tonight's late watch patrol.

With the Weyr being so large, certain fence posts that supported the fence surrounding the Weyr were marked so that a rider could provide an approximate location.

"_Soranth says he and Lee will be right there, he's calling Weyr security right now,"_ replied Heeth. In the distance Cary could hear the sound of one of the security vehicles as it turned on its siren and raced back towards her spot.

Cary shivered slightly and then she lifted her leg over Heeth's large neck and slid down to the frozen ground. Her feet crunched through the light coating of snow as she approached the man on the ground. She twirled her wand and muttered under her breath. Ropes flew from her wand tip, securing the man tightly. She had removed his wands, but there was no telling what else he had hidden on him.

A land rover screeched to a halt just opposite her on the other side of the fence and she could see the driver talking on his radio, giving directions to someone else. Not far away she could make out the headlights of a land rover slewing in the snow as it approached her from the nearest gate.

Soranth and two other dragons from late watch landed about fifty feet away and walked up to her position. She was grateful for the distance, the dragons kicked up a lot of debris when landing and she was cold enough as it was without adding the bitter cold of Between to the mix.

Lee walked over to where she stood and looked down at the man. After a moments silence he looked up, the security vehicle was closer now. "We'll turn him over to security," he said, then he smiled at Cary. "Good catch Cary. Did you disarm him?"

"Heeth said he had a heart string wand, when I summoned his wands, I got two wands. I let Heeth burn them both since they were unattended," she replied with a smirk, then she pointed to an area nearby that was still smoking.

Lee looked at the smoking ground and nodded. "Good. We don't need that filth in our Weyr," he said with a grin. "Serves him right for letting his wands lay on the ground like that."

The land rover came to a halt and Sergeant Nichols stepped out with two others. Lee walked over to them and spoke quietly with Nichols for a minute, then one of the men walked over to where Cary stood. "Miss? Can you remove the ropes please? I'd like to put him in restraints," said the man. He held up a pair of handcuffs for Cary to see.

She nodded and waved her wand at her captive, banishing the ropes.

The soldier nodded his thanks and walked over to the unconscious wizard. With a grunt he flipped the man over onto his stomach and cuffed him. The other soldiers approached him and helped carry the wizard back to the land rover where they shoved him into the back seat.

Lee walked over to Cary. "Are you able to continue your patrol?" he asked.

Cary nodded. "Heeth and I are fine," she replied.

"All right, but when you come off watch expect that people will want to talk to you," Lee warned.

She nodded and turned back towards Heeth. A quick glance at her watch caused her to sigh. Four am, she thought, only two more hours and we'll be able to get warm again.

She settled into position and cast a warming charm on herself, then she signaled to Heeth. The pair leapt skyward. As she rose in the air she could see the land rover heading back to the gate and ultimately the security office.

"What do you think Heeth?" she asked finally.

"_I don't know Cary, he wasn't coming to hurt us, but he wasn't coming as a friend either,"_ replied her dragon.

**Office of the Minister, Ministry of Magic...**

Sir William O'Hearny turned in his chair when his computer signaled the arrival of a priority message from the Prime Minister's office. Ordinarily he didn't get much email as a rule, most of it being routed to his secretary before arriving at his desk, but there were a few people that had a direct line to his in-box.

He double clicked the line and the message opened. As he read his eyes grew wider and wider. "Alejandro?" he said in a strangled voice.

Croaker looked up from the report he was reading. "Sir William?"

"Would you care to explain why the Ministry's only remaining ward breaker is now in Army Intelligence custody? The Weyr was going to turn him over to DMLE until they found his ministry ID badge on him. He was apparently caught approaching the Weyr this morning at four in the morning."

Croaker sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry sir, but the Weyr changed it's warding scheme and I wanted to know what they had done. I sent Smithers to perform a covert ward analysis. I'll send someone from DMLE to get Smithers."

Sir William glanced over at Arthur who was staring at Croaker with a look of astonishment, then he turned his attention back towards Croaker.

"You'll do no such thing," Sir William said frostily. Sir William sighed and leaned back in his chair, then he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alejandro, while your curiosity is admirable, it is sadly misplaced. The Weyr has every right to use whatever warding scheme it selects and we do not have a right to analyze it without a court order. Am I right Arthur?"

Sir William turned to pin Arthur with his gaze. The elder Weasley nodded, he was surprised by how intimidating Sir William could be even without any magic. "Yes sir, that is correct. The Weyr isn't under any form of investigation that I'm aware of and I haven't heard of any court writs regarding it."

The regular courts had created a special magical branch where the justices and personnel were briefed on Magic. After the fall of the Ministry to the rightful government, they took over what had been formerly one of the jobs of the Wizengamot.

The old Wizengamot had been disbanded by order of the Queen and the Department of Revision was putting together a case to present to her Majesty that would see a much reduced form of the Wizengamot put into place. It made sense to create a legislative body much like the House of Commons in Parliament, only this time there would be strict rules under which the new body could operate.

Sir William stood. "I will go to the Weyr today to apologize on behalf of the Ministry for Magic. I will ask that Mister Smithers be released into my custody pending a formal Ministry investigation. But I also expect that you will draft an apology to the Weyr as well Mr. Croaker. The quicker we can resolve this the better chance it can be forgotten because if the Queen hears of this, we'll all be in line for the chopping block. Her Majesty is a very firm believer in the rule of law and following proper procedures."

Croaker paled and nodded vigorously. This was one of those unique cases where minor language differences resulted in unexpected results. Sir William's reference to the chopping block meant getting fired, Alejandro on the other hand took it more literally.

Sir William walked from the room, his anger plainly visible to all. Once he was gone and the door swung shut Arthur turned to Croaker. "Alejandro why? What could you possibly gain by examining the Weyr's wards?"

Croaker shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I wanted to know what they put in place. When they shunted us to their security office I realized we had no information on their wards."

Arthur frowned. "We have no right to know what they have unless they ask us to get involved or if they are subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. It's a slippery slope you've put yourself upon Alejandro. Where will it stop? I know Buckingham Palace is heavily warded, so is #10 Downing and Parliament. Where will you draw the line? Now you tasked Smithers, our only certified ward breaker, with a job that didn't have proper authorization. He stands to lose his job unless you step in and tell the review board that he was acting on your orders."

Croaker tried to glare at Arthur, but the elder Weasley held his ground. Croaker knew Weasley was right, but he didn't need Weasley to remind him of that. He abruptly stood and walked out of the office.

Arthur sighed and shook his head in dismay. He could only hope Croaker would do what was right because this sort of incident could seriously hurt the relationship between the Ministry and the Weyr.

**Campbeltown Weyr, January 21st 1997...**

Harry placed the phone back on the hook then he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The door to his office opened and he tried hard to ignore it.

"Tough day?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"You have no idea," he mumbled in reply. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione leaning against his desk, close enough to touch. He absently reached out and caressed her leg.

Hermione moved slightly to give him a bit better access to her leg. "Why don't you tell me?" she asked. His gentle touch gave her chills, it wasn't meant to be a sexual touch, but she couldn't help feeling it was. She understood that Harry had a craving for touch that he could only really indulge in when they were in private. He had had so little in the way of tactile contact while growing up that when he realized that the girls wanted him to touch them, he did; as often as he could.

"That guy Smithers, really did work for the Ministry of Magic. He thought he was working from approved orders and was sent here by Croaker to do a ward analysis of the Weyr. Only thing is, he didn't have approved orders. That kind of thing requires a court order these days. And you know the courts aren't about to provide that kind of order without a valid reason.

"Sir William was here asking for Smithers to be released to him while the Ministry conducted an investigation. I was about to send him on his way when the Prime Minister called and asked me to release Smithers as a personal favor."

Hermione frowned. "Oh? Why would he get involved?"

Harry's brow furrowed and he looked up at her. "I'm not really sure, but I can tell you what I think."

She motioned for him to continue.

He rubbed his temple for a moment, then he spoke. "I think, and mind you this is only a guess. But I believe that everyone wants this to go away as quietly as possible. If the Queen finds out people will lose their jobs. If the magical press found out it would be a big black mark against Sir William. The Ministry for Magic is finally finding its feet and this could disrupt that."

"So they want to cover this up?" Hermione exclaimed.

"No, the Prime Minister promised me they would investigate and fix things so this can't happen again," he replied. He leaned forward in his chair and looked down at the desk to hide his smirk. "Besides it wasn't entirely one sided. I mentioned the Weyr's intention to produce passports for our dragons and maybe a few years down the road to issue passports to our riders as well. Prime Minister Major is a smart man, he knew that I wasn't just bringing it up for no good reason. It was the price of my cooperation."

Hermione shook her head in amazement and considered just how much Harry had changed since he impressed. The Weyr would issue dragon passports and Her Majesty's government would not contest the issue. She was very surprised that Harry essentially blackmailed the government into letting the Weyr produce their own passports.

Harry paused and his brow furrowed. "There's something else strange going on. Have you noticed that there is an election coming up, but the only man that seems to be running is Mr. Blair? I like him well enough, but it strikes me as odd that the Prime Minister isn't doing more for his campaign or his party."

Hermione shook her head and grinned ruefully. "I hate to admit this but I haven't been paying that much to the election politics. Mostly I've been studying and reading books that Maggie has been loaning me. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it's really fascinating. I'm sorry I doubted you when you offered me this."

Harry returned her grin. Her comment about not paying attention to the politics didn't surprise him one bit. Like so many others Hermione was slipping into their new roles within the Weyr and that meant re-ordering their priorities. He reached out and caressed her leg again. "Have I told you just how proud I am of you?" he asked gently.

She blinked in shock and shivered slightly at his touch. "What?" she stammered in surprise.

"Hermione, you once pointed out just how hard and strong we're all growing up. Remember?"

She nodded uncertainly.

"You were one of the riders who had the hardest time of it," he said softly. "You came from a loving home with loving parents. Impressing Comaloth completely threw your plans for your future out the window. For more than a year after you impressed you tried very hard to rearrange those plans to fit Comaloth and the Weyr in."

She looked at him in surprise and he chuckled. "Oh please, I know you very well by now sweetheart. I may have to use my notebook to remember everything I have to do, or want to do, but you have that same list in your head. And I'll bet you a back rub you had everything planned out, step fifteen, enter university, step sixteen, graduate with honors," he said teasingly. Hermione flushed slightly but didn't deny it. "All that changed when you impressed Comaloth. I have no doubt that you still have that list, but the heading at the top of the list has changed from 'Hermione Granger, smartest witch' to 'Hermione Granger, dragon rider'.

"That's what you've become. A dragon rider in every sense of the word. I have no doubt in my mind that you will be as valuable to the Weyr as May will be. I'm proud of what you've managed to do. It wasn't easy for you and it wasn't always a joyful experience. I am proud of you just like I'm proud of May. My girls are the very best in the Weyr, in the future, when people say dragon riders, it will be people like you and May or Ronan and Karen that come to their mind."

Hermione smiled and a single tear slid down her cheek. "You always manage to surprise me Harry Potter," she said softly. "Just when I think I know how you'll react to something you surprise me," she said.

Harry stood and embraced her, holding onto her tightly. For Hermione this was a major point in her relationship with Harry. She knew who she was now, a dragon rider, and mate to the Weyrleader. It was something she would fight to keep. Harry loved her and May equally and that was all that mattered.

**Campbeltown Weyr, February 28****th****, 1997...**

"Harry!"

Harry bolted upright in his bed and he looked around in confusion. May and Hermione lay sleeping in the bed next to him. He had been certain that someone had shouted his name, but now he wasn't sure, it almost sounded like his own voice. Maybe he had dreamed it?

"Harry, not now," May murmured sleepily. "You'll wake Hermione and her flying monkeys. No, don't set the straw man on fire!"

Harry stared incredulously at May for a moment and made a note to hide her copy of the Wizard of Oz. He turned away from May and his feeling of foreboding increased again. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what.

Frowning, he carefully climbed over May to get out of the bed. Once he was out of the bed he slipped on his robe and slippers and walked out of the room. A quick look at the dragon stall showed all three dragons sleeping peacefully in their beds.

Comaloth and Trath had contributed eggs to the last hatching and would continue to do so once per year until they were unable to lay eggs. It was a decision that the three dragons had made among themselves and announced to their riders. It surprised no one that the dragons were reducing their egg output, reflecting Harry's desire to keep the Weyr population down to around five hundred bonded and five hundred non-bonded dragons.

The two females weren't sure if they would both lay for the same hatching or for alternate ones. But this year they opted to skip the February hatching. Personally he was glad they made that decision for themselves and didn't involve their riders, that would have been a difficult conversation for sure.

He shook his head and thought for a moment, trying to recall the roster for today. _"Norboth? Is everything alright?"_ he sent to the chief watch dragon.

"_Weyrleader? Everything is fine at the moment. Is there a problem?"_ she replied worriedly.

"_I'm not sure,"_ he said uneasily. _"That's why I asked you."_

"_Everything is fine here Weyrleader. Abbey wants to know if there is a problem and should she wake the ready wing?"_

"_No, not yet."_

"_Weyrleader,"_ suddenly a voice called, interrupting his conversation with Abbey Rhode's dragon.

"_Polenth?"_ he replied. His anxiety cranked up a few more notches, for Polenth to be contacting him at this hour there had to be a major problem. He really hoped it wasn't another wizard attack on Gringotts. They had been prepared for the last one, but a surprise attack right now would be a disaster.

"_Weyrleader, the Lord Holder of the Goblins has just informed me that the wards on Nevado del Huila are triggering. The Lord Holder says this is imminent eruption warning."_

"Shit!" Harry said aloud, and then he grimaced and glanced at the door to the bedroom. Both girls would have taken him to task for cursing like that if they had been awake.

"Norboth, tell Abbey to wake the Weyr, we have an emergency," he said aloud.

"_Yes Weyrleader."_

"_Polenth, thank you for your warning. Please pass along our thanks to Lord Ragnok as well,"_ Harry sent as he rushed back into the bedroom and threw on the lights. Both girls complained about the light, then fell silent as a siren sounded across the Weyr. In the distance they could hear the bellowing of the ready wing as they scrambled to assemble out on the tarmac.

"Mayleth?" he sent, trying to contact the senior dragon at Nevado del Huila. He received a brief impression of total chaos, a veritable cacophony of jumbled images and an overwhelming fear in reply. Harry shook free from the connection and quickly scooped up some clothes.

Harry ignored both the girls who were demanding answers as he struggled to get dressed and work out in his mind what they needed to do. The goblins had told him that the wards could trigger as much as two weeks early, but they suggested treating it as an emergency. The connection he had with Mayleth suggested it was a lot worse than anyone expected.

"Harry, what's going on?" asked Hermione, finally breaking through his concentration.

Harry glanced up to see her sitting in bed staring at him. A sleep tousled Hermione was an adorable sight in his book even if she didn't agree with him. "I woke up feeling uneasy, like I knew something was wrong and I couldn't shake the feeling," he explained. "I was just checking in with the watch dragon when Polenth called to say the volcano wards at Nevado del Huila were triggering. I think it's a lot worse than that, I tried talking to Mayleth but I couldn't reach him properly."

Light flooded into the bedroom from the windows as someone threw on the high powered lights in front of the hangars so the wings could assemble. Around the Weyr riders tumbled out of their beds and rushed to dress.

**Nevado del Huila Weyr #29, Columbia, South America...**

Barely ten minutes had passed from the time Harry received the warning until they arrived above the threatened Weyr. Even with their renewed intelligence the dragons below him were in a panic. Harry suddenly realized that the neat, orderly evacuation he had in mind was not going to work.

Maylith, the senior dragon was bellowing in fear as nearly non-stop earthquakes shook the ground with a terrible violence. The nearby mountain had a towering column of smoke extending many miles into the sky. The sky was quickly darkening and ash and small pellets of pumice rained down on everyone.

Harry scowled instinctively ducked, he knew he shouldn't land his wings or his own dragons might also panic. Dragons tended to expect the ground to be firm beneath their feet and complained very loudly about any problems that involved the ground or their perception of that firmness. Something as simple vertigo could drive some dragons into near incoherence.

The bonded dragons fared better than their non-bonded brethren, but they still had problems with the ground moving. It also explained their distinct unease if they landed on board a ship. Ground isn't meant to move in their opinion.

"Riders button up your clothing tightly," he muttered, then he pulled his goggles down over his eyes. The dragon wings were far tougher than human skin and could withstand the ash fall longer, but Harry knew they couldn't stay too long. So far it was mostly ash and the occasional lightweight pumice; but that wouldn't last and when the heavier stuff started falling, it would be hot enough to melt lead or knock a dragon from the sky.

Considering the state of the dragons below Harry knew he would have to take drastic measures.

"_Dragons!"_ Harry roared mentally. His voice ripped across the planet rousing whole Weyrs from their slumber. _"Dragons of __Nevado del Huila__! Take wing, in the air you will not feel the earth move under your feet!"_

Slowly, as if unable to disobey his commands, the dragons of Nevado del Huila rose into the air and calmed. Maylith rose up to a position near Chekiath who barked a sharp growl at him. The large dragon looked away, it was a rebuke from the Weyrleader's dragon and everyone knew it.

"Easy Cheki, Maylith experienced the same thing as all of his Weyr," Harry murmured, then he turned his attention to Maylith. "This place is no longer safe for your clan. We must leave this place. Justh at Romeral Weyr will welcome you as you once welcomed him."

"_Weyrleader, what about our eggs?"_ asked Maylith.

Harry gasped and quickly scanned the ground below him. It didn't take long for him to spot the Weyr hatching grounds and the eggs resting there. "Damnation," he swore. As an unmanned Weyr, these dragons had only a few eggs a year, hatched on their own grounds like they had been doing for centuries. More than thirty eggs sat in their hatching area fully exposed.

He was about to organize a party to recover the eggs for a straight flight to Romal Weyr when things were taken out of his hands. The ground stopped trembling and there was a moment of eerie silence. Then the silence was broken with a mighty roar as the volcano only a few miles distant belched steam and smoke skyward. All of the dragons tumbled in the air for a moment from the pressure wave.

Harry heard a scream and he looked around quickly, then he spotted Karen Khan and her Neruth tumbling in the air. A rock the size of a small car flew past her, just narrowly missing. Neruth managed to straighten herself out midair, but not before Karen had been totally dislodged from her seat. Only her harness prevented Karen from being thrown totally off her dragon, as it was, she had to scramble back into position, then she frantically checked her harness for damage.

Harry knew there was no time to waste. Without consideration to himself or Chekiath he nudged the large dragon into a dive. "Everyone except wings one and two evacuate to Romeral. One and two, follow me!" he snapped.

Both wings followed their leader and quickly spotted their goal. There was a huge pyroclastic cloud sliding down the mountain side in the direction of the Weyr and he wasn't planning on sticking around for it to arrive. Chekiath swooped low over the nesting ground and snatched up an egg, then he jumped Between. Less than a minute later the air over the former Weyr was empty. And four minutes after that a searing cloud of ash and poisonous gases swept over the Weyr obliterating everything in its path.

Harry would later learn that this eruption was only minor compared to the one that followed four days later and nearly blew out half the mountainside.

Nevado del Huila was gone, wiped out and it would be years before the dragons could return to their old Weyr.

Harry decided it would be best to fold the two Weyrs into one. Romeral absorbed Nevado del Huila and Harry set Justh and Maylith both as senior dragon. Maylith accepted the role but insisted that Justh should hold the greater authority since Romeral was his Weyr. Condron and Maziang Weyr both showed up at Romeral shortly after Harry did and with their help, they were able to expand the Weyr to comfortably fit both sets of dragons.

To Campbeltown's intense dismay, less than half of the rescued eggs would survive to hatching. Harry and the others believed a trip Between could harm an egg, but now they had proof of that. It had been a desperate measure to save the eggs and to everyone's grief, it had cost them dearly.

**Dragon Infirmary, Hangar seven, Campbeltown Weyr, May 20****th**** 1997...**

Harry ran a shaky hand through his hair and he paced back and forth in front of the open hangar doors. Chekiath crooned softly trying to calm him but it wasn't easy for either of them. Hermione pushed her way past Ronan who stood nearby looking unhappy and a bit bewildered. She stepped up to Harry and wrapped him in a tight hug.

The entire compliment of dragons from Campbeltown was arrayed in wing formations, and behind them, thousands of non-bonded dragons waited. Every few minutes more dragons appeared overhead and joined their fellow dragons in their vigil. The dragons had been arriving in ones and twos for the last twenty hours.

Harry stiffened in Hermione's embrace for a moment, and then he wrapped his arms around her, drawing what comfort he could from her support and love.

"Have faith in May love," Hermione said in a voice choked with emotion.

"I do," he replied in a whisper, "but there are some fights that can't be won."

She tightened her grip around him and he did the same. For now all they could do is wait.

Eddie Took stood nearby talking in a low tone with Sirius and Remus. Harry had called her earlier in the day and asked that she come to the Weyr. She had been to the Weyr several times in the past week, but today was different. When she arrived today she was immediately struck by the strange silence that pervaded the Weyr. Normally a busy and noisy place, now the dragons were silent and the riders spoke in hushed tones.

The mood seemed to invade both the science complex and the SAS base next doors as few sounds were heard. It struck Eddie as if the whole area was waiting for something. Something that wasn't good.

The riders were still going about their business, patrols were up, but Eddie could see no one had their heart in it and they were merely going through the motions today. She knew the dragons were upset and very unhappy, there wasn't a single dragon present who didn't have bright yellow twirling eyes.

It struck her strange that they would be so upset, and so quiet. Normally an upset dragon would make it's upset known in a rather noisy fashion, but not today.

May stepped from the large stall and pulled the curtain closed then she walked outside to where Harry and Hermione stood. "He's asking for you Harry. And you too Eddie," she said softly. "The sunlight is hurting his eyes so make sure you pull the curtains tight behind you."

Harry swallowed convulsively; he didn't want to do this! Holding tightly onto Hermione's hand he led her into the dragon infirmary and stopped in front of the curtain. "Are you sure?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

He nodded. "I have to do this, but without you and May I don't think I can," he replied.

"You are stronger than you know Harry," Eddie said softly; she stood nearby watching the Weyrleader. "But it is only human to reach out to our loved ones and draw from their strength when confronted with situations like this."

Harry nodded and looked at both of his girls. "I need you with me." It was an admission of weakness that normally he wouldn't have made in public. The girls knew that and understood, they were feeling the same way.

May nodded and stepped closer, and then she pulled the curtain apart just enough for someone to slip through. The curtains had been installed by the elves several days earlier and completely blocked the stall from any direct light.

Harry took a deep breath and followed her in. One by one they passed the curtain into the stall. It was dim inside and Harry pushed down an irrational surge of fear, it reminded him of his cupboard at the Dursleys.

Ronan watched the curtains wave briefly, separating the stall from the rest of the infirmary. Finally he turned and signaled to Draco who trotted over. "Assemble the riders in dress uniforms. I don't know how much time we have so tell them to hustle."

Draco nodded and dashed off to issue orders.

"Why does this hurt so much?" Karen whispered brokenly.

Ronan wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek gently. "Because he is one of ours and he's touched every one of us in some way. Look," he said, pointing out to the runway. "They have been arriving from around the world all day long. They know."

Karen spared a glance to the thousands of dragons lined up, just watching the infirmary and waiting. She leaned against him and sniffled loudly.

"Come on love, let's go get changed," he said trying to be strong for her. But she knew better, she could hear his voice cracking and his eyes had a watery look.

Inside the stall Spath lay quietly, his only noise came from the rough wheeze of his breathing. His wings lay limply at his sides and he barely moved at all when they entered. He had been ill for the past week, but it wasn't until yesterday that they had any idea of just how bad things were. The intense heat source that all dragons had; was extinguished in the ancient dragon. The elder dragon was dying and Hagrid and May could only guess as to the reason.

Old age was their best guess, but they weren't sure what was causing the elder dragon's illness. The onset of the illness had been sudden and brutal. One moment the elder had been healthy, the next he had to be helped into the infirmary.

Not knowing the cause of the illness hadn't stopped them from trying with an ever increasing sense of desperation to save the ancient dragon. Finally yesterday May gave up and spent her time trying to keep the dragon comfortable; she just didn't have enough information to help her treat Spath.

Harry gasped and stood rock still for a moment, and then the tears slid down his cheeks. Spath lay curled up on the sands, his normally brown/bronze coloring reduced to a dull, almost flat brown. Harry loved the old dragon and hated the helpless feeling he got seeing his friend like this and being powerless to help him.

Harry moved forward and pitched to his knees so that he was level with Spath's head. The ancient dragon opened his eyes and he looked at his Weyrleader for a long moment.

"_Weyrleader, thank you for coming here."_

Harry reached out and caressed his eye ridges gently. He was alarmed to discover the normally hard eye ridges seemed soft like putty. "How can I not? My elder dragon commands the Weyrleader even if he doesn't know it."

Faint streaks of blue and green flashed in Spath's eyes for a brief moment before they faded back to their drab gray again. _"Thank you Weyrleader you honor me. I have been blessed among my kind. I was given a chance to help lead our race out of our bondage by helping you. I have watched you grow from weyrling to the mightiest Weyrleader the world will ever __know__. For us you turned your back on your people, for us you bled and wept. For us you fought the world and for us you won."_

"Shhhh Spath, you must rest and get better, your Weyr needs you... I need you," Harry replied brokenly. Tears slid down his cheeks and he made no attempt to hide them. Spath helped turn Harry from frightened school boy into The Weyrleader and Harry knew he owed the old dragon a great deal.

Spath's head shifted slightly and he looked around the room before turning his attention back to Harry. _"We both know the fire is out, my time __to become an ancestor is near __Weyrleader. Now it is time for you to be strong for your Weyr and your mates. Stand tall and be what you were born to be Harry Potter. You will be the Weyrleader that all will remember and I will have helped you become that greatness. __I am content with that._

Spath paused and took a shuddering breath and moaned softly.

"_Now I understand why __we__ go Between. It is to escape the pain of dying. __The instinct to go is very hard to fight when it hurts so much,__" _the dragon said haltingly. Spath turned his head slightly to look at Eddie Took. Understanding dawned in the assembled visitors; Spath had spent the last few days struggling to keep from jumping Between. Hermione gripped Harry's shoulder tightly and he could hear her choke back a sob.

"_Green Lady... Eddie Took, I am going to meet your Goddess. I had thought I would have had time to ask you to accept me into your faith. I hope she doesn't mind too much if I didn't have that time. You say she loves even dragons and I intend to ask her about that when I meet her. I am content because you give me hope that things do not end. I have seen too many turns, but my last turns were the very best. I will also thank her for sending us The Weyrleader to deliver us."_

Spath fell silent and everyone held their breath.

"Goddess bless dearest Spath. The Goddess will welcome you Spath as she welcomes all," Eddie said softly, her face was streaked with her own tears. The dragons presented unique issues which she had never considered before. Her time among them had taught her to love and respect these gentle beings. "Her will is a mystery, but her hand is seen everywhere. Even in the dragons. The Goddess will be there when you look for her."

"_I will ask her when I see her,"_ Spath repeated faintly. _"Too many __turn__s and too many dragons have preceded me, now it is my turn to face the unknown. May, I think I would like to sleep now, but tell the Master Smith that I have prevented my leap Between __so that__ he may study my shell. Let my passing set an example to dragon-kind. It is not an easy thing to ask a dragon to do, but as long as they know they will be helping their kin, some will fight the urge to go Between._

"_Dronth the dream walker is now eldest, Weyrleader. He is a good dragon. He knows to come here now."_

"None can replace you," Harry choked out.

"_Everyone is replaced eventually Weyrleader but thank you. Your gift of family is even greater than freeing us from the time of beasts. I am with my family at the end of things. It is comforting, __thank you __my family__."_ Spath closed his eyes and May stepped forward and checked him over for a few minutes, then she turned to the others.

"He's asleep, he barely had enough energy to talk to us. Let's go outside and leave him to sleep. Dobby will watch over him," May said softly. Harry became aware of Dobby sitting silently in a corner, his eyes fixed on the great dragon. The little elf glanced up at Harry and smiled weakly. His large eyes shimmered with unshed tears and Harry's eyes filled to match his little friend.

Eddie stepped forward and whispered a benediction over the sleeping dragon asking her patron goddess to ease his passage. Spath had suffered greatly these last few days and Eddie couldn't remember a human passing with such dignity after enduring such pain.

Harry led the others out of the stall making sure to let as little sunlight in as possible. Just outside he was enveloped in a hug from Hagrid. Harry understood and hugged his friend back.

Hagrid released Harry before spots started to appear in his vision and he staggered a little before standing straight. Harry wiped the tears from his eyes and waved towards the assembled dragons. "Is that your doing?" he asked quietly.

Hagrid shook his head. "No. They've been arrivin' all day. There are dragons from every weyr in the world here now."

Harry eyed the mass of dragons and shook his head, there had to be at least two thousand dragons present. Even as he eyed the dragons, the combined wings from Maziang and Condron arrived and landed. Like his own riders, the other two Weyrs were in their full dress uniforms.

Harry sighed and turned to Hermione. "I guess we have company tonight, get a hold of Susan and make sure the kitchen hall is aware of the extra people we'll need to feed," he said, and then he strode forward to greet the other Weyrleaders.

The wing leaders and the elves put their heads together and in short order a long row of tables was set up near the entrance to the Infirmary and some people lined up at a buffet. Few were hungry enough to bother.

Harry spoke with Kinny the elf that ran the construction crew and had him set up several large bonfires. The mood was deeply somber as they waited for news. People stood or sat around in clusters as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon and one of the elves started up the fires.

Harry sat with Hermione, Eddie, Ronan, Karen, Sirius and Remus on a blanket that Hermione had conjured. Hermione had also transfigured dress uniforms for herself and Harry. May was with Hagrid inside the Infirmary tending to Spath. The group spoke in quiet tones. "This scares me," Karen finally said.

Harry turned back to the conversation that he had been ignoring.

"What does child?" Eddie asked gently.

"You do, in a way, Eddie," Karen admitted. "Before I impressed, my parents were Church of England and you believed in something that no one could prove. Miracles were suspect and never truly proven. You either believed it was a true miracle or you didn't. My father believed enough to become a lay pastor. My parents believed and I was slowly coming to doubt their beliefs in the face of an ever more scientific and technological world.

"When I met you, you brought to my attention a faith that was supposed to be dead and buried a thousand years ago. I didn't have a problem with that, but when Neruth started telling me about your guiding spirits and I saw them through her eyes it was troubling. Religions weren't supposed to have such visible and compelling evidence."

Eddie smiled at the girl. Karen sat between Ronan's legs, leaning back against him like a backrest of a chair. "What you call compelling evidence may exist in a lot of religions if you just look for it," she said gently. "I haven't the eyesight of a dragon, but I had faith in my spirit guides. When Chekiath told me he could see them, I was surprised that he could, but not surprised that they were there helping me."

Eddie paused and lifted up her palm and whispered a brief prayer. A small flame appeared and danced lazily over her palm. "Is magic a power that some have because of genetics or a manifestation of a greater power? I have no talent for wandless magic and yet, the fire did not need a wand to create. Your 'compelling' proof might be more common than you know dear. You just haven't looked for it yet."

Karen shook her head. "I suppose what I was trying to say was that before I impressed Neruth I was starting to seriously doubt my own faith and that of my parents. Now, things have changed, there are possibilities that I hadn't considered."

Eddie dispelled the flames and smiled gently at the girl. "The very fact that you recognize new possibilities is hopeful. I am not here to convert you as much as I am here to help you see those possibilities for yourself. You fear the unknown. You fear what is happening to Spath because that is ultimately everyone's fate. If I can help ease the fear you have then I have done the Goddess' will."

"You seem so sure of yourself," Karen said weakly in protest.

Eddie chuckled and crossed her arms, looking at the girl. "That is faith sweetheart. I am comforted that the dragons can see my guides, but I knew they were there long before a dragon told me that he saw them."

Karen fell silent considering the Druid Priestess' words.

"_Weyrleader?"_

Harry looked up. He had been sitting quietly listening to Eddie and Karen talk and hadn't noticed the approach of another dragon. He looked apologetically to Hermione and gently untangled himself and stood. "Dronth, I'm glad you're here but I do wish it were under better circumstances," Harry said softly.

Dronth was the next oldest dragon on the planet and he had an ability that only a few other dragons had. He could share memories with people like all dragons, but he could also insert himself into those memories so that he could explain them to the people. For that reason he was called a dream walker by the dragons even if technically he didn't walk in a dream.

The group on the blanket watched the exchange intently. _"As do I Weyrleader, I've always known that I've lived longer than I should have, but didn't understand why until you woke us. I promise I will do my best to advise you."_

"I know you will Dronth, our duty will allow for nothing less. Will you move to Campbeltown?" asked Harry.

The Romanian Longhorn looked around for a moment, _"It is colder here, but I will adapt. As much as I love my home, my duty to __our __kind is more important. With your permission I will move in right away."_

Harry thought for a moment. "The next senior dragon of Chot Malrire is Pukanth right?"

"_Yes Weyrleader."_

It surprised no one that Harry easily remembered the names of senior dragons he had met only once. He might not know the name of every dragon, but he was intimately familiar with the names of every dragon in a position of authority in every weyr.

Harry nodded. "I will speak to him tonight and let him know that you're moving in and he is now Senior dragon of Chot Malrire. I will also tell him that he can still seek you out for advice. Tomorrow I would suggest seeking out our Weyrling master and discuss the Weyrling training schedule. Spath took great pleasure in teaching the Weyrlings, I hope you will as well. There are a lot of new things to learn and a lot of things to remember."

"_I am sure I will enjoy it Weyrleader. It will be a pleasure to pass on our ways to the Weyrlings."_

"Tinny?" Harry called.

An elf smaller than Dobby, appeared with a small pop. "Yes Weyrleader sir?"

"Tinny, this is Dronth, he is moving into the Weyr tonight. Dronth will be our new elder," Harry said gently.

The little elf's ears drooped. "Spath dragon isn't getting better?"

Harry dropped down to one knee so he could look the little elf in the eye. "Spath is a very old dragon. I wish with all my heart that he would get better but not even magic can turn back the clock."

Tinny nodded and a single tear slid down his cheek and splashed against the ground. Tinny looked at Dronth. "Dronth dragon you don't eat elves?" Tinny asked cautiously.

Dronth rumbled with amusement. _"Little elf, until today I have never even met one of your kind. I wouldn't dream of eating you. A meal lasts, at best a week, a friend lasts for a lifetime."_

Tinny smiled softly and he nodded, causing his ears to flap noisily. "Come, I show you where to sleep and help make your bed."

Harry watched the odd duo walk away, he shook his head then he moved to sit next to Hermione. "Have you noticed that every elf at the Weyr has one particular dragon that they are close friends with?" he asked suddenly.

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "Are you suggesting that elves could impress?" she asked incredulously.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "No I don't think so, but I do think it's odd that every one of our elves has a favorite dragon and they spend their time either with the other elves, or that one particular dragon," he replied. "Besides, I've never met a young elf and I don't know anyone that has, I wouldn't even know what age they could impress at."

"_They are all too old Harry,"_ Chekiath said. _"Dobby is nearly forty turns old."_

Harry sat heavily next to Hermione, stunned by his dragon's announcement. "Dobby is nearly forty?"

"You know," Eddie mused with a frown, "I can't recall hearing about any young elves either. Saint Patrick's hospital in Dublin uses elves extensively, but I've never seen a young elf."

"Call Dobby," Hermione offered. "He'll come to your call. You can ask him."

Harry shook his head. "He's helping May with Spath. I don't want to interfere with that. I could ask Tinny or Jojo, but I don't know them as well as I do Dobby. Lord knows how skittish they can be, I don't want to scare them away. As important as they are, they are easily spooked because of how they've been treated."

Hermione nodded and kept silent. Her views on house elves had changed radically since she impressed, plus she knew her Harry and knew he would never mistreat an elf. He was paying them three times the Ministry set wage and treated each one like they were personally part of his family. Each elf was bonded to either the Weyr or to an individual, but unlike the old bonds, this was was controlled by magical contract that allowed either party to break the contract.

Sirius scowled. "I clearly remember Kreacher coming to work for my family. Preacher, our old elf had died and Kreacher suddenly appeared one day after that. My mother said it was part of the wizard/elf contract that a new elf would appear to replace an old one."

Harry looked to Remus meaningfully and the older man nodded. "Yes Harry I agree, I think it's worth looking into. Did you notice what Cheki said? He didn't say the elves couldn't impress, he just said they were too old. Can you imagine an elf impressing a dragon? It would strengthen the case that the elves are as sentient as we are."

"They are," Harry replied heatedly.

Remus held up a calming hand. "Relax Harry, I agree, but not everyone does. This would bolster the argument for Elves' rights."

"An elf for a rider," Hermione whispered to herself in an awed tone.

"It may not be possible. Goblins can't impress," he reminded her. He wasn't against the idea, but dragons had been designed to bond with humans. Somehow he didn't think Elves and the other sentient species would be able to bond with dragons.

Harry reached over and squeezed her hand in support. It was clear that there were missing pieces to the story of elves. Pieces that he wanted to know about.

He opened his mouth to speak again when a suddenly wave of anguish hit him like a tsunami. Tears sprang to his eyes and the dragons began to keen loudly. Hermione gasped and bit back a cry, she collapsed against Harry weeping and he wrapped his arms around her.

Chekiath reared up on his hind legs and bellowed his anguish to the uncaring sky. Within seconds half the dragons were bellowing in distress. No words were spoken by any dragon or rider, none needed to be. Even the un-bonded humans knew instantly that the Weyr, riders and dragons were marking the passing of the elder dragon for the planet.

No words needed to be said, Spath was no more and everyone present felt his passing.

Hagrid and May stepped from behind the curtain, the anguish in their expressions was obvious to all. Hagrid headed straight to his Selanth so they could mourn together. May headed to where Harry and Hermione huddled together on the blanket.

May stumbled to her knees next to Harry and Hermione. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't save him. I tried everything I swear," May said brokenly to Harry, as if she had been responsible for Spath's passing. Harry didn't say anything, he just reached for her wrapping an arm around her. Hermione joined them in a three way hug, weeping softly and trying to comfort each other.

"Dear Goddess," whispered an awestruck Eddie. _If anyone needed proof that dragons love as much as humans, here was the proof,_ she thought in awe. She had seen how the dragons responded to the death of Albus Dumbledore, but this was ten times worse than that. All around her she could see riders either clutching at their dragons or their partners. In a few places people huddled with their dragons and their partners. The feeling of loss even pressed against her while she observed the dragons and their human partners.

Nearby Comaloth, Trath and Chekiath huddled together, their flanks touching their heads bowed down to the ground.

"The death of a dragon is a painful experience," Remus offered speaking loud enough to be heard. "The death of the elder dragon must be worse. The dragons love and revere Harry, but they knew that Spath guided Harry and helped him which in turn helped all dragons. Dronth will be very important and much respected by the dragons. But Spath will be remembered as the elder than helped reunite man and dragon."

Eddie nodded thoughtfully, and then she stood. An intense calm descended upon her and in that calm she knew what she must do. Nothing had ever been as clear in her life before as what she must do now. Her guides were whispering encouragement and as she listened, magic seemed to gather around the little woman like a warm protective blanket woven with love.

She looked around calmly, taking in the grieving dragons and the riders. It was a scene unlike any other in her memory and it was one that she would never forget. The magic continued to gather around her until she glowed softly in the deepening twilight. She relaxed, it was all in the Goddess' hands now and it would be her will guiding her.

Eddie clapped her hands once and the sound was like a clap of thunder instantly silencing dragon and rider alike as they turned to the petite woman in surprise and not a little awe. She raised her hands high over her head and spoke in a voice that everyone could clearly hear.

"Mother Goddess, receive our dear friend, Spath. Let his spirit dwell in harmony and peace under your gentle protection. Guide him on his journey to the shining land and comfort his disquiet for leaving us. He was strong and in leaving us he gave us his strength to go on. Protect him and give him our love.

"Bless your children; human and dragon alike, lift up their spirits to lighten their sorrow. Help us through our grief and help us to celebrate Spath and his life. Blessed be dearest Spath. You shaped many lives just by your presence. We are saddened that you had to leave, but happy for you because now you stand before the great lady and can ask your questions."

Slowly she lowered her hands and bowed her head. She wasn't sure why she said those words, they weren't part of the standard prayers for the dead but she had felt almost like she was compelled to speak them.

"Blessed be," she whispered again, and then she swayed ominously. She felt exhausted as the magic that had gathered around her, bled away, leaving her feeling tired and drained.

Remus and Sirius jumped to their feet and helped her sit gently on the blanket. Dobby appeared and offered her a steaming mug of hot chocolate which she accepted gratefully.

The Weyr remained respectfully silent, watching the little druid priestess that they liked and respected. Something inexplicable had happened and no one was really sure exactly what. There had been no extraordinary magic except for that single hand clap and yet everyone knew they had just witnessed something very unusual. The pain and grief of Spath's passing seemed lessened by her words and everyone present was comforted and filled with hope.

"Eddie?" May said gently, then she sniffled and wiped at her tears using a handkerchief Harry had given her. "Eddie are you all right?"

Eddie lifted her head tiredly. "Just tired dear, I don't know what came over me. That wasn't the usual benediction for the dead, but I felt compelled to say that. My guides were telling me very clearly what must be done. It wasn't like a typical usual compulsion; all I felt was a great peace and love for Spath and for everyone here."

"This is what I meant about compelling evidence," muttered Karen Khan with a sniffle of her own.

Eddie shot the girl a tired smile.

"_I don't feel as sad now,"_ Chekiath announced into the silence. _"I will miss Spath, but Green Lady says he's moved to a nicer place. __Its comforting to know we just don't end. __I think I like that idea."_

"We all do mate," Harry said softly.

"Soranth would you please tell Lee to prepare a press statement about Spath and Dronth for tomorrow morning? Also pass the word that every manned Weyr will fly their flags at half mast for thirty days." Harry said softly. Whatever mood had infected the Weyr, had affected everyone. Everyone was talking softly as if unwilling to break the mood.

"_Lee says he'll handle it Weyrleader,"_ Soranth replied.

Both girls looked at him strangely and he shrugged. "We've taken a big loss tonight, but we still need to produce fourteen tons of hot rocks this week. Scales need to be delivered, Ronan has another manure shipment to Gringotts to make. As much as I would like to give everyone time off to mourn, we must continue going about our business."

Ronan groaned and closed his eyes. "Don't remind me," he moaned. Karen laughed and poked him in the side causing him to sit up and eye her warily. The goblins handled the resale of the manure to the growers for fertilizer. Twice a month Ronan would oversee the delivery of tons of manure that had been carefully loaded into cargo containers.

Normally elves would load the manure. Unless Harry needed to punish someone, then they were handed a shovel. They didn't have to load an entire container, but usually it felt like they had by the time their punishment hours were up.

The goblins would clean out the containers and have them ready for the dragons to pick up so that they could be reused. Twice a month, Campbeltown would send fifty loaded containers to Gringotts and Ronan saw to it that the operation ran smoothly. It was a job that he hoped to be able to pass off soon to someone else.

"In other words, life goes on," Remus said.

"Don't you want to talk about what happened tonight with Eddie?" asked Hermione.

Harry smiled and shook his head. "No I don't really. I think that each of us must figure that out and _have faith_ in our own opinions for a change."

Eddie chuckled softly at Harry's choice of words and Hermione huffed a little. She hated being confronted with a mystery that she couldn't resolve.

"What do you think happened?" May asked Harry intently.

He looked towards the enclosed stall through the open doors and his brow furrowed like he was concentrating hard. "Eddie says she was compelled to say what she did. But for what purpose? Her words offered only hope and a heartfelt prayer that Spath would find his peace in an afterlife. There was no attempt to sway us to a course of action, no attempt to convert riders and dragons. It was just a prayer and nothing more and yet I was comforted by it. All of us, dragon and rider were comforted by it and our grief was eased. As she spoke I felt like someone was listening keenly to her words. Whether it was the Goddess or Spath listening, I don't know. All I do know is that it was comforting and I am certain that Spath is happy and at peace.

"What we witnessed, I think, was a confirmation that Spath has gone on to a place where he's no longer in pain. I think we were told in a roundabout way that our dragons are loved by someone other than the riders and other people. I think that we each have to examine what happened and come to our own conclusions. Some things just aren't meant to be analyzed too deeply."

He said that looking at Hermione who blushed and looked away. She knew she had a tendency to over analyze things. It was a habit that May and Harry were both working on helping her, but it wouldn't go away overnight.

May leaned closer to Hermione and nudged her with her shoulder. Hermione looked up and returned May's smile. They weren't trying to hurt her, it was just something she did and she knew she needed to work on it.

Harry noted several people from Sir Robert's team waiting nearby with a large flatbed trailer truck with an attached crane. They would move Spath's body to a large refrigerated unit in the science complex before they transported the body to the group that would study him.

It answered the one question he had been afraid to ask. Spath had not gone Between at the last minute. In a way he was glad of that, Spath suffered terribly in fighting the urge to go Between. Had he gone Between in the last moment of his life that would have made his suffering all for naught. He would honor Spath and any dragon that managed to resist the urge because they were special among dragon-kind.

"Ronan, assemble the wings and riders. If Sir Robert's people are going to take him away, we'll stand for his sake, and honor his passing," Harry said, then he stood and squared his shoulders.

Ronan nodded and started shouting orders as a driver slowly backed up the large truck into the infirmary. The Weyr would honor their elder dragon who would help his kind even in death.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

***** First off, a deep note of thanks for everyone that reviewed. The response was a bit overwhelming at points and gratifying.

***** Now then, some review responses and we'll lead off with a question to AussieFFaddict. What is Tim Tam? It sounds like something Alyx might want to use someday to torture people with.

***** L. Ravensky asks if the chapters will cover significant periods of time. The best answer I can give is that there will be time gaps that may skip a year or more. Life isn't one continuous crisis event, but more like a series of crisis' separated by periods of intense boredom. As things heat up and cool down we'll see a variable rate of time compression based on what's happening.

***** Ar Kaos wants to know if the Weyrs will involve themselves in humanitarian efforts that occur in the middle of a shooting war, ie Bosnia, or some places in Africa etc. To stop the wondering I'll say no. The Weyrs are neutral and will help in any endeavor that doesn't pose undue risk to a rider and dragon. The story is complex enough without bringing in that kind of plotline.

***** Team503 had a bunch of questions that I'm not going to answer. Silly reader, like I'm going to give away plot points? I will say that the topic of religion will pop up now and again. You saw a little of that in this chapter and it will appear from time to time, not as a major plot point, but one that stubbornly refuses to die. Religion is a touchy subject to write about because no matter how you portrait it, you offend someone, so I try not to let it become too important to my stories. Oh and to all those pygmy Buddhist cannibals I may have insulted, sorry about that.

***** There are no plans to market breakfast cows. Sorry!

***** Iphiglina next time you dance around naked, take photos. But seriously your English is better than some people I know that were born in England, plus they are always mispronouncing things. Hello, Aluminum anyone?

***** For all those that wanted to rent the bullet point but didn't want to participate in the movie, no worries. The movie deal fell through thanks to some carefully phrased insults towards the midget... er Tom Cruise. Now however we have another problem. What do to with 1200 people sized llama costumes.

***** To the unsigned reviewer that wanted to rent the bullet point, you almost had me when you offered naked photos, but then you ruined it when you said it was of your Mom in bed with a chimpanzee. Seriously is it any wonder why I delete unsigned reviews? And frankly folks if you're going to try to bribe me with smut, you better be prepared to offer up a sample or two. I don't want to agree to something only to discover I'd been bribed into receiving photos of Sister Rosetta Stone and Father Flannigan playing "Smock me again father, I have sinned!".

***** This Bullet Point is available for rent. See below for details.

***** LordAmnesia wants to sell wolverines cheap. For more information, contact LordAmnesia courtesy of the local trauma center.

***** The above bullet point was rented by LordAmnesia who regrettably, passed away before he could pay us. Cheap bastard! However, since he was offering to pay us in wolverines, I think we got off lucky. Besides, his family is allowing Alyx to practice her taxidermy skills on his body. He looks a little weird with his foot coming out of his ear and I won't mention what's coming out his butt, but hey, it makes Alyx happy.

***** If you haven't checked out some of our earlier stories, try them. Just remember some of them are old enough to have invented the cliches that people hate these days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard Disclaimer:**

"And folks if you call in within the next fifteen minutes, we'll include free complimentary llama shaped candy canes to go along with your Christmas Llama star," Alyx proclaimed happily.

Bob walked onto the stage and blinked in shock. Then he blinked again, hoping the sight would vanish, but alas, it didn't. Alyx had covered the stage in snow and she was dressed up as one of Santa's elves. There was a large palm tree that had a number of ornaments stapled to it, and under it was a little nativity scene where someone had replaced the sheep, cows and donkeys with llamas, manatees and a sloth named 'Pokey'.

The three wise men looked like the Blues Brothers and to top it off, a large neon sign blinked above the scene proclaiming the arrival of the very first Christmas.

Bob slowly face palmed then he looked at his wife. "What are you doing?" he shouted, "Can't you just for once write a simple disclaimer telling people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern?"

"I'm just following one of your ideas," Alyx replied smugly. "Remember when you wrote Multiverse? That story with billions of infinite universes?"

"Yeah," Bob replied guardedly. He didn't dare debate the concept of applying 'billion' and 'infinite' together made no sense.

Alyx grinned. "Well I had an idea for a new movie and I figured I would sell some of my own designed Llama Christmas tree stars to finance the movie!"

"But it's not Christmas!" exclaimed Bob.

Alyx chuckled. "That's the beauty of it. Somewhere out there it is Christmas. Christmas doesn't fall on the same day in every universe you know," she replied smugly. "In fact there are an infinite number of universes where _today is_ Christmas."

Bob sighed and massaged his pounding temples. Infinities always gave him a headache. "Do I want to know what this movie is about?" he whined.

Alyx perked up. "I'm glad you asked. It stars a deranged, mutated Snape!" she gushed.

Bob smiled brightly. "I think I like this movie already."

"Draco plays the handsome, far too young scientific hero that must travel around the world looking for a cure for Snape while Harry Potter plays an evil villain out to control Snape and wreak havoc on civilization. Meanwhile Snape escapes from his confinement and is attacking several cities. I call it Snapezilla attacks!"

Bob blanched. "Start the story! Start the story!" he shouted over Alyx's continuing description.

"Lord I would hate to see what her idea of crowd funding is all about," Bob muttered, then he turned and stalked off the stage.

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 3  
Dementors and River Stones**

**Hangar two, Campbeltown Weyr, August 5****th****, 1997...**

In the months since Spath's passing Dronth slipped into the role of Elder dragon with a fervor that Spath couldn't match. For all his age, Dronth was still more than 100 years younger than Spath. His ability as one of the few dream walkers made him a very effective teacher of the Weyrlings and gave Remus a detailed view of life in a Pern Weyr that even Spath would have trouble matching.

But not all of his Earthly memories were as good as the Pern memories. Dragons and Dementors had a long history thanks to Wizards. It came as a surprise to Remus and it was why Dronth was so eager to take part in the next major Weyr task.

Dronth had revealed memories of several Mediterranean countries making sport of forcing dragons and dementors into close contact in an enclosed arena several centuries ago. The sport had fallen out of favor in the mid eighteenth century, but the dragons in the Mediterranean nations remembered it well. Dronth came from a North African nation and he had vivid memories of the 'sport' from the few survivors.

These memories, along with information learned from the Battle of Balmoral Castle meant that world wide dragon-kind wanted these creatures destroyed.

Harry walked into the hangar and quickly climbed the short steps to the stage. Dronth moved to position himself next to Chekiath just to one side of the stage. Chekiath crooned a greeting to Dronth who crooned in reply then they both turned their attention to Harry on the stage.

With the hatching back in November and again in February the Weyr's ranks had swelled to two hundred and four riders. The increased population had resulted in Harry ordering the elves to gut Hangar two and restructure the interior again. The huge space inside had been reclaimed, gone were the classrooms for Magic, instead the space now had enough room to fit roughly twice their number and still had room left over for the dragons of the Wing leaders.

The Weyr theater couldn't fit everyone and by the end of the year they would be moving to shifts for meals until the Kitchen hall could be expanded. Many of the couples were taking to cooking some of their own meals in their quarters in order to avoid the noisy kitchen hall. The only meal the Weyr tried hard to share together was breakfast because Harry usually had announcements to make.

Construction had begun over the summer for Susan's design for an apartment block. It was a strange looking affair that seemed to resemble an out-door car park and storage units. The building had broad, reinforced balconies for dragons to land and take off from. The plans eventually called for five of these sixty apartment, buildings to be constructed, but right now they were just building the one.

Just four stories tall with six single bedroom and nine double bedroom apartments, per floor, each building would comfortably fit at least sixty single riders and with the appropriate space enlarging charms even larger families could be accommodated.

Every morning construction workers would arrive and enter via a secured gate where they would board mini-buses to ferry them to the work site. It added a little extra time to the construction but it allowed Major Atkins' people to keep a close eye on the workers. The construction company had extensive military construction experience and had no problem dealing with the security restrictions. And the Weyr's restrictions were minor compared to some of the work they did.

For now however the Weyr was seriously cramped and a few riders were living out of magical tents that they had bought with the help of Gringotts. The Weyr was starting to generate some serious money but even with that, construction still took time. Everyone knew it was temporary, the first apartment building would be finished in late January of 1998 but for now, people were seriously crunched and Harry was already worrying about the addition of new riders come November.

Harry stopped in the center of the stage and he looked down for a moment, passing an image to every dragon in the Weyr, then he turned and walked over to a white board and placed a large map against the board with a sticking charm.

He nodded to his guest and then looked at his riders, signaling them to settle down. "Good morning riders. My guest is Yoshi Musabe, official court wizard to the Japanese Imperial court and ICW delegate for Japan. Starting today we are going to be assisting Mr. Musabe and the dragons of Sakushima Weyr in eliminating the Japanese population of dementors. I am sure by now the wizards among you have explained about the extra classes they've had for the past month on casting the Patronus charm. So you probably knew that we'd be going up against dementors soon."

Harry paused and smiled. "What you don't know is that the Japanese government is willing to cede a large piece of Sakushima island to the Weyrs in payment as well as paying a bounty for each dementor we eliminate. They have even offered to help install the necessary physical security measures for a new Weyr. However unlike the Americans or the British they were reluctant to assign a military force to help secure the facility.

"It has taken us this long, but we now have permission to hire an armed security service company to provide security for Sakushima. Our new friends were reluctant to allow armed security for the new Weyr, but it will only be needed for a few years, until the new Weyr is capable of protecting itself."

Harry didn't need to point out to anyone that a dragon was capable of destroying just about any threat with it's fire. The Japanese government understood that fact but had opted to pretend otherwise. For Harry it provided a unique insight into the Japanese mindset.

He nodded to Ronan who in turn ordered his people to pass out folders containing information about what they would be doing.

Harry waited until everyone had a folder, then he pointed towards the map and a large lit circle appeared, centered on a single mountain. "In your folder is a map, please take it out to look at."

He paused and waited as everyone dug through their folder. In quick order everyone had a map in their hands and were looking at him with interest.

"In the Shari District of the Hokkaido Prefecture there is a penned in area which is heavily warded. Despite the wards, each year a few of the dementors manage to slip out to cause trouble among the local mundane population.

"Mount Unabetsu and the area some 20 miles around it are home to some one hundred to one hundred forty dementors. The Japanese never took an accurate census of the things, but then they never tried to use them as prison guards either. Unlike the British Ministry for Magic, our Japanese friends never attempted to use them in any capacity. Sometime around 1790, they invented a ward which the dementors didn't like and they herded them into an enclosed area around the mountain.

"The area is heavily wooded and that is going to be a problem," Harry said tensely. He gestured and the map expanded on the board until it had zoomed into what looked like a break in the forest. "This is the nearest large clearing that doesn't have people nearby and it's the only significant clearing in the warded zone. With the forest in the way, we have the problem of spotting dementors and getting to them."

Harry looked back to his riders and grinned. "The Japanese government has politely asked that we do not burn the forest down to get to the dementors," he said with a slight smirk, and then he paused while the riders chuckled.

Nearby Yoshi nodded fervently. This was an old sacred forest revered by mundane and magical equally and a forest fire would not be impeded by the dementor wards.

"What I propose is an effort that is going to see us very busy for the next week or two. The magical riders have been practicing their Patronus charms on their dragons for a reason. We are going to round up the dementors by herding them towards that clearing.

"It may take multiple sweeps to get them all. Sakushima will locate the dementors and we'll herd them towards the clearing where the non-magical riders will be waiting to snatch them up and take them between.

"A dragon that is being used as a Patronus focus creates a shielded area, sort of an anti-dementor zone. We'll slowly sweep the treetops and herd any dementors located by pushing at them with this Patronus zone. It may take a bit at first, but I'm confident we'll soon work out how to herd the dementors into the direction we want them to go."

Harry turned back to the map and explained his plan in greater detail for dealing with the dementors. He pointed out where they would be staying. There was a children's summer camp near the edge of the warded area that had been closed years earlier because of a dementor breakout. The buildings had been recently renovated and there was adequate room for the Sakushima and Campbeltown dragons as well as space and facilities for the riders.

As Harry spoke it became clear that the Weyr would be earning a tidy sum of money for eliminating the dementors and already had agreed with the Japanese to reinvest most of that into turning Sakushima into a full Weyr. Sakushima Weyr would be the first Weyr that was built using money earned by the dragons instead of donated by a host government.

That also meant that Luna and her team would begin searching for potential candidates once the dementors were dealt with.

Harry paused again and turned back to his audience. He slid his hands into his pockets and looked at them carefully, trying to gage their reaction. "That's the plan people. We'll spend the next two weeks trying to herd the dementors into position. Mr. Musabe assures me that they will have several members of the Japanese Aurors on site to help with the local authorities and we'll have someone to help us with simple stuff like shopping. They will also provide each of us an enchanted object that will provide translations for Japanese. The objects will have the added benefit of making any mundanes hear us in Japanese."

Harry glanced around and then he spotted Arnas Roberts, the Weyr meteorologist. "Arnas, what kind of weather can we expect in this area?"

Arnas stood and shuffled his feet nervously. Normally his job consisted of posting local weather reports in the Kitchen hall as well as looking up weather conditions around the world for the Wing Leaders. Today was the first time he would be addressing the entire Weyr.

Arnas coughed nervously and glanced at a clip board in his hand. "There is no significant weather over the target area at the moment. A seven day forecast shows little change, but I'll continue to monitor the situation. Feymieth and I will jump back to Campbeltown daily to check the forecasts.

"The terrain does lend itself to typical mountain weather. That means we can expect morning fogs and or a light drizzle that will burn off by mid morning. Despite the date, it is probable that we'll see cool evenings requiring heavier clothing. Afternoons however can be quite warm. I don't anticipate any significant weather to impact flight operations," he said, then he sat down in his chair and looked about nervously.

Harry smiled at Arnas and nodded his thanks. He glanced at his watch. "Your dragons have the jump imagery; we'll assemble on the flight line tomorrow at zero four hundred hours. That will have us arriving around noon in Japan. Make sure you pack some warm clothing. Wing Leaders, we'll have a meeting tomorrow evening after everyone gets settled in at the base camp. So for now you're dismissed, go pack, or tell Major Atkins if you need a run into town for any personal needs. She'll arrange for the motor-coach to make a town shopping run."

The riders stood and slowly started to disperse. Each of them had things to attend to before tomorrow. The riders rarely took their dragons into town because of the excitement that they generated and the fact that the dragons couldn't enter the stores. None of the riders expected that to ever change, but it made them uncomfortable to leave their dragon sitting in some parking lot while their rider shopped.

"Oh!" called Harry with a grin. "Don't forget your passports!"

Laughing the riders made their way to the exits. Each rider carried an official British passport for themselves and a Campbeltown Weyr issued passport for their dragons. Unfortunately as far as Harry was concerned, no one had asked to see their passports since their trip to the United Nations in New York. He wanted to issue passports to the riders as well, but first he needed just one country to acknowledge the Campbeltown passports. With that precedent set, issuing passports to the riders would be easy.

Harry turned to Yoshi and grinned. "That went well actually. A lot of the riders from the later impressions haven't experienced dementors but they are taking it very seriously. Only the first and second impression riders have any experience with them and they are understandably nervous."

Yoshi moved closer to him on the stage, behind him Harry could spot May, Hermione and Ronan climbing the short stairs to join them. "And the dragons?" asked Yoshi.

Harry's expression hardened. "They want them dead," he said flatly. "You know about the racial memories of dragons correct?"

Yoshi nodded.

"Dronth, our elder dragon and our Weyr historian got to talking one day and we quickly realized that dragons had faced dementors in the past on more than a few occasions. During the time of the beasts they had been forced to face them as a kind of sport by some magical communities. Without their intellect, the dragons had little control over their fire and almost none over their flying abilities. The dementors didn't always win, so the dragons remember being forced to face them; they are willing to do anything to rid the world of their menace," Harry said harshly.

"They even give dragons nightmares," Ronan added quietly.

Yoshi raised one eyebrow, he was surprised to see how serious the riders were taking this task. The press portrayed the riders as being some kind of daring adventurers but Yoshi was discovering that was far from the truth. He had witnessed some of the training the magical riders had undergone and came away impressed. The Weyr was deadly serious about eliminating the dementors and deadly serious in performing their duty to the Weyr and dragon-kind. "Well then perhaps someday we will be able to declare such creatures a thing of the past."

"Now that is something I'll drink to," May said fervently. The few times she had been close to dementors they bothered her deeply. That was before she had gotten together with Harry and she told Hermione that she'd end up needing some serious Harry cuddling if she had a repeat of her first encounter. Hermione smiled and told her that it was likely they all would need some serious reassurance if they got too close.

May and Hagrid were to set up a small medical clinic in case of dragon injury, so unless the dementors attacked the base camp, the odds were slim that she'd see one up close on this trip.

Harry smiled; the thought of ridding the world of dementors was a good one, especially if he could get countries to pony up cash for the effort. He wasn't interested in putting a Weyr in every country but he wasn't adverse to earning the dragons some welcome currency that wasn't attached to hot rocks.

As it stood the Weyr had three primary sources of wizarding galleons. The first source came from the work done by Polenth's clan of underground dragons and Harry kept seventy five percent of that in trust for Polenth and his clan in case they ever needed it. The second source was from the sale of scales and custom built Jordan wands and finally they made galleons from selling dragon dung.

Hot Rocks were expected to become the Weyr's principle source of income once the power plants started going on-line. Right now the Weyr only produced hot rocks for testing and research only.

They were earning fifty million British pounds for this job, most of which would be sunk right back into the Japanese economy to pay for the construction of Sakushima Weyr. But there were plenty of other countries in the world with dementor problems. If Harry had his way, this Japanese job would set the precedent and the price tag for all future dementor hunts.

Harry wanted the dragons to earn their place in the world. So if he could finance a new manned Weyr by eliminating dementors, he would.

Both Maziang and Condron were absent from this particular exercise but he had plans to include them in future dementor hunts. And he was certain that once word got out about Japan getting rid of the problem, other magical ministries would be screaming for similar services.

"Mr. Musabe, I wanted to thank you for all your help. I know how time consuming this has been, and that it's taken away from your time dealing with the Mediterranean crisis," Harry said.

Yoshi smiled and shook his head. "Please, Weyrleader, among mages there are only given names, it is just Yoshi."

Harry smiled. "Then you must call me Harry."

The old mage returned his smile and bowed slightly. "As to the issue between Italy and Greece, they settled down once we interdicted the zone between them. Now the only war they can fight is one of words across a bargaining table. The cease fire has been in place for four months and the two sides are talking a bit. There's still a great deal of hostility, but they cannot do any more than shout insults at each other across the bargaining table.

"On the other hand the embargo is hurting them and there are rumblings of opposition parties to the people in power trying to force the governments to make a binding peace. I fear we might have to wait for the governments to fall, but I know we will conclude this successfully, like Albus wanted."

Harry nodded and swallowed down the lump in his throat. The mention of Albus caught him off guard and threatened with a tear or two. The death of Dumbledore had hit the Weyr hard, and despite Harry's open declaration that he wasn't affected, he was. The loss deeply bothered him and confused him. There was still a lot of room for anger against Dumbledore, but most of that vanished when he became the dragon's advocate.

"Yes he would have wanted that," Harry murmured. He could feel a pair of hands touch his back and he didn't need to look up to know his wives were nearby, supporting him. They weren't officially married or even engaged, but he couldn't help but consider that a done deal at this point. They knew him better than anyone other than Chekiath. And they knew how deeply Dumbledore's loss meant to Harry, and perhaps even understood it better than Harry did.

Yoshi gestured towards the now mostly empty hangar. "Your people are preparing to fight an evil that we have struggled against for centuries. If anything Harry-san, we are deep in debt to you and your riders and dragons. It took us a hundred years to perfect a ward to contain those demons, and even after another fifty years of research we cannot make it fool proof. You will give us the protection we have needed for so long."

Harry grimaced slightly and he gestured to the map still on the white board. "We will try Yoshi, but the forest poses considerable difficulties. Since we can't burn it down, some may escape."

Yoshi nodded grimly, he had come to that same conclusion when the muggles asked that the forest be preserved if possible. "Nothing in life is certain Harry-san. We do our best and hope it is good enough. We have a rough idea of how many dementors there are, so we will continue until we attain that. If some are left behind they would still be trapped behind the wards. I have made both governments aware that the restrictions imposed could result in a small number of dementors escaping elimination."

"But as you've pointed out the wards aren't perfect," Hermione protested.

Yoshi made a shrugging motion with his shoulders. "It is the best we can do, and if we can kill one hundred of the beasts we may have pushed them too far to recover from. We know they reproduce, but no one knows how or what triggers their mating. No one has studied it before. What we do know for certain is that they reproduce only very infrequently or their population would have grown significantly since we penned them in. Killing off one hundred from such a small population to start with may result in the beasts being unable to recover their losses."

Harry squared his shoulders. "We'll do our best. The dragons hate dementors and there isn't an ounce of sympathy for them among the riders," he said, and then he turned to Hermione. "Has Lee made the press statement yet?"

Hermione shook her head. "He had Mariah make the statement. He asked me to tell you that he's not very comfortable in front of the cameras and Mariah is more than capable of acting as the official spokesperson."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, considering his own reaction to speaking on camera he couldn't really blame Lee. Despite Lee's misgivings, Harry had wanted him to be the official spokesman for the Weyr and not Mariah. Lee was still in charge of the Weyr Press office and Mariah be the public face of the Weyr. _She is very attractive and well spoken, she'll do a good job and I know she gets along __well __with Lee,_ he mused for a moment then he decided to stop pressing Lee about it.

"_Harry, everyone gets along with Lee,"_ Chekiath said in reply to his musings. _"__But Mariah likes Lee very much and enjoys it when he covers her."_

Harry chuckled and the others looked at him strangely. He tapped his temple, "Comments from the peanut gallery about Lee and Mariah. Very well, we'll let Mariah be our public spokesperson for now while Lee runs the office. So she released the announcement today?"

Hermione nodded with a smile, all of the riders were used to their dragons listening in on their inner monologue and occasionally dropping a comment or two. "Yes, officially tomorrow the Riders will be visiting Japan as part of an effort to pave the way for the establishment of a new manned Weyr."

"Don't forget we have an invitation to the Imperial Palace," May added excitedly.

Harry smiled at her. May loved gardens, either working in her own or visiting other gardens and she was excited by the idea of seeing some of the best Japanese gardens in the world. Meeting the Emperor of Japan was okay, but seeing the Imperial garden was the real bonus for her. Books had been written about those gardens and she owned several of them. Harry was certain she would leave there with plans for sprucing up the Weyr.

The backyard of their home had the makings of a fine garden that she spent the whole summer working on and getting Harry's help with. There was a small path and a tiny fountain with a stone bench nearby. They had one of the largest backyards in the Weyr and it was still tiny. May wanted to put together a garden that was big enough to allow a dragon to enjoy it. Unfortunately for May she was still trying to convince Trath that a garden shouldn't contain a small herd pen in case the dragon wanted a snack while sniffing the flowers.

"His Imperial majesty is most eager to meet with the dragons. However he did not want to appear as if he was taking all of their time so he's invited the palace staff and members of the court with their children to be present also. Many of the staff have children that attend the same school," Yoshi said softly. "His majesty wishes to meet privately for a short while, then the children and families will be presented to the dragons."

Harry's smiled broadened. "The dragons love children," he replied. "They know that meeting the Emperor is the real purpose of the meeting, but to them, the highlight of the visit will be the children."

"_As you said yourself Harry, children still believe in magic. To the rest of the world we're not magical, but our very existence gives them a little hope that there may be magic somewhere,"_ Chekiath announced to everyone.

Harry looked to where the huge hangar doors stood open and he could see his dragon waiting for him. "I know mate."

Yoshi looked troubled. "Do you really think that people should believe that Harry?"

Harry reached out and put an arm around May. She smiled and leaned into him. "Yoshi, the biggest crime the wizards did was take away magic from the world. Oh I know it was necessary at the time, but I like to think that the majority of the world has grown past the point of witch hunts and burning people at the stake. Even a hint of magic gives people hope. We took a world of wonder and beauty and selfishly hid it away from the world. In a way we made the world a colder, harder and harsher place to live."

"My Mum went with us to visit Hogwarts last month, she's a normal person who got to see her very first unicorn," Hermione said softly. "She broke down and cried because it was so beautiful."

Harry smiled at Hermione's remembrance. Emma's reaction was pretty standard; many of the normal riders had similar reactions to seeing a unicorn. Harry had even commissioned a goblin made charm bracelet for Emma's birthday with the first charm being a unicorn.

"Sir William is tasked with starting the process of revealing magic to the British public. Arthur Weasley is busy putting together a plan to do just that," Harry added, "The original plan wasn't going to work and Albus had written down some ideas of how to fix it. Arthur found Albus' notes and turned it into a real plan. I think Arthur's plan has a good chance of success but he hasn't started it yet because he needs to sell the idea to the ICW and get their support. The Minister of Magic is looking at a plan that takes almost fifty years to complete. I would strongly suggest you talk to Arthur Weasley about it."

Yoshi looked at Harry, he was appalled at what he was hearing.

Harry saw the reaction and he quickly conjured some chairs and motioned for Yoshi to sit down. The others took seats and Harry waited for a moment trying to order his thoughts. "I'm going to say something and I may get this wrong, so May, Ronan, if I'm wrong, please jump in."

The others nodded and sat, waiting for him to continue.

"This is a tale that Jasper Brady told me and I think it highlights the problem like never before," Harry added.

"Ah the American that used to be ICW Delegate?" Yoshi asked cautiously.

Harry nodded. "That's right, he now works at the American Weyr as the government liaison. He was telling me about a problem that had first come to light a few years ago. You know what a satellite is?"

Yoshi nodded a bit uncertainly and Harry looked at Ronan. Ronan leaned forward in his chair. "A satellite is a machine that is sent into Earth orbit via rocket. It is so high above the ground that it is outside of our atmosphere."

Ronan paused and pulled out a bulky phone from a pocket with a short antenna. "This phone allows me to call anywhere on the planet. Once my call enters the network it is quite likely that it will be sent via a satellite to its destination. Satellites are used for all sorts of things these days, this is just one example."

Yoshi nodded, he was a bit confused as to where this was going.

"The normals have been putting up satellites for the last forty years or more. Some are used like Ronan said, for communication and others do things like monitor the weather. Some governments use them to spy on their neighbors and potential enemies by taking very precise photographs. According to Jasper Brady one department of the American government, the National Reconnaissance Office, was charged with making the most accurate maps in the world. Shortly after they began they started noticing holes in their maps, places where they could see towns and streets but no official addresses existed for those locations.

"Places like the Salem enclave or the great Rocky Mountain reserve were detected by these machines. Technology had given the normals the ability to find us and every day their technology improved until they were finding individual homes that were hidden among their cities," Harry said, then he waved a hand towards the map where the dementors were kept penned in. "Sir, you know the problem, the normals every day move closer to a source of danger that they can't even see. Everyday increases the chance of the magical world being discovered. And everyday increases the chance of that discovery leading to a conflict between the two worlds."

"Hiding was right when wizards first did it, but the world's changed," Hermione added. "Soon it won't be possible to hide and someday an unfriendly government will learn of your existence. Wouldn't it be better to try to gently bring the two worlds together? If wizards can control how the secret is revealed, then perhaps they will have allies among the normals to help if some government decides to reinstate the witch hunts."

Hermione was strongly in favor of Arthur's plan and she hoped that the Weyr would be asked to help with it at some point. She knew there was good chance that any children from her and Harry would likely be magical.

Harry glanced at her and nodded approvingly. "Exactly. It's time to gently ease the two worlds together. If the wizarding world were to follow a plan like the one Arthur Weasley has, then by the time the normals know about magic, it will be routine to them. A source of envy perhaps, but not a source of conflict. And if a country, like Italy for example decided to oppress their wizards, the rest of the world would react in outrage."

Yoshi glanced up at the map and grunted sourly. Hokkaido was a heavily populated prefecture, what Harry proposed _could_ happen. The area where the dementors were kept was warded against muggles, but no ward was perfect and the forest was a popular tourist location. The separation between the two worlds was rapidly shrinking and sooner or later they would collide. What the Weyrleader proposed was to control that collision in an attempt reduce the impact on both societies.

He stood abruptly. "You present an interesting and alarming case Harry-san. I think it would be best if I spoke with Arthur Weasley and get a better feel for the issues. I can see why you think it is necessary although I am not sure I agree with it yet."

Harry nodded. "Just give it some consideration Yoshi. The Weyr isn't pushing for this, but we do recognize this as a big problem facing the wizarding world. If asked, the Weyr will support and help the effort to bring the two worlds together peacefully. If the two worlds came to blows I do not know what I would do, but I also do not wish to be forced into making that choice."

Harry didn't need to mention that the bulk of his riders were non-magical and he would most likely side with the non-magical side.

**Camp Orange Blossom, August 6****th**** 1997...**

Harry looked up and saw Ronan approaching. He held up a hand to Hermione and she fell silent, then he turned to Ronan. "Well?"

Ronan grimaced. "The place hasn't been well maintained like we were told. It looks like some of the buildings were repaired several years ago but since then there's been a lot vandalism. Between the elves and our wizards I think we can fix it up. We will still need the Japanese to bring in basic supplies, the kitchen is a wreck and even if the elves can fix it, there's no food here like we were promised."

Harry nodded unhappily. The camp they were expected to use during their dementor hunt was in terrible shape. Many of the barrack-like buildings had broken windows and the interiors were a wreck. There were no beds or food and less than half of the buildings had working power.

A few feet away Yoshi stood with a thunderous expression on his face. He didn't know who was responsible, but he had been assured the camp was in decent shape and now he had been made to look like a fool!

Harry nodded, and then his eyes glazed over for a moment as he called for a Wing command meeting. He needed to speak with his wing leaders and seconds, and get organized. Satisfied that the leaders were on their way, he wandlessly levitated a table from nearby and turned it right-side up before placing it in front of him. A quick scouring charm made it usable for his needs. He placed a briefcase on the table and opened it.

"Yoshi?" he called. He could clearly see the old man shaking with anger.

The aging mage shook from his introspection and turned his attention to Harry. He had ridden on Chekiath with Harry to this location just over an hour ago and had been shocked into silence by the poor condition of the place. He had made promises based on reports he had received and now it was clear someone wasn't giving him accurate information.

"Weyrleader, I fear I must apologize," he said, then he trailed off as Harry cut him off.

"Yoshi, no apologies are necessary. You thought the camp was ready for our use. Someone told you it was ready and you had no reason to disbelieve them. The camp is a mess but we'll soon have it set to rights. In the meantime if you would contact your people. We're probably going to need the mundane liaison to purchase some supplies for us. Blankets, bedding, food and cookware for the kitchen hall, someone to fix the power problems, we'll also need someone that can translate until your ministry can provide the translation items."

Yoshi nodded. "I am told that someone will be here tomorrow from my ministry with specially enchanted earrings that will provide the translation function. I will also find out who was responsible for this... this unacceptable mess."

Harry bowed slightly. "We know we can rely on you Yoshi. I am certain this was all an innocent misunderstanding, but together we can fix things."

Yoshi cocked an eyebrow at Harry, and then he returned the bow. It was obvious that Harry had been studying Japanese culture and customs. His comments attributed blame on no one and made it plain that this was just an accident that he was willing to forget. Yoshi appreciated the gesture, but he still felt this was a slight on his honor. He promised himself he would get to the bottom of this and find out who had dropped the ball.

Harry turned away to greet the others entering the room. There were now ten wings representing two hundred and four riders.

Ronan was pushing for a reorganization of the Wings along divisional lines of five wings to a division, but so far they were still coping. Harry was reluctant to reorganize because it would leave holes in the wing structures as people moved into new positions. He wanted to wait until they had trained up replacements before reorganizing.

"As most of you have noticed, Camp Orange Blossom needs a little work," he said dryly. His wing leaders chuckled and he smiled in return. "We need to put this place in order and even if I called all our house elves from Campbeltown we'd be still working on the place well past midnight. So all magical riders will turn out for a systematic, building by building repair and cleaning party. The normal riders will follow behind setting up makeshift bedding that I'll have our elves deliver.

"Tinny and a party of elves will concentrate on the kitchen. Hopefully they'll be able to repair the kitchens or we may end up doing a lot of take away food," he said with a smile.

The riders laughed at that, between the riders and some others from the Weyr, they had two hundred and fourteen people that would need to be fed. They would easily overwhelm any restaurant they used to feed their people.

"Harry, isn't that unfair to make the wizards do all the work?" asked Brian Thornhope, Wing leader of Wing Eight.

Harry chuckled and looked at Hermione. "Would you care to demonstrate?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand. She turned to one corner where two windows had been broken. The floor underneath the windows was littered with leaves and random junk blown in by the wind. "Reparo!" she snapped at one window. Glass fragments flew up from the floor and in just a few seconds the window was whole and looked freshly cleaned. Hermione didn't wait; while the first window was being repaired she cast the spell again, repairing the second window. In under a half a minute both windows looked brand new.

"Scourgify!"

The debris on the floor vanished and the area, including the walls around with windows looked freshly scrubbed.

"Those are standard cleaning and repairing spells that all of our wizards know," Harry said. "Even the weakest among us can easily handle casting these spells multiple times. If I wanted, I could have told Hermione what color and she could easily change the colors of the room while cleaning it."

Hermione smiled and expertly twirled her wand, then deftly slipped it back into her holster. Hermione's wand twirling was a direct result of May who managed to convince her that it was perfectly acceptable to be proud of her abilities. She had practiced twirling her wand for years in secret and it was only with the urging of May that others now saw this side of Hermione.

Harry chuckled and waved a hand at the rest of the building interior. "Three or four wizards can repair and clean the interior of a building in a few minutes."

"Then why do you insist that we don't use magic when cleaning up Campbeltown?" asked Nancy Feltip, wing leader for wing seven and a witch.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nancy there are over two hundred of us and only forty six magical riders. If I allowed you to use your magic to do chores around Campbeltown you'd end up making the normal riders resentful because you can complete a job with only a tenth of the effort. What you do in your own quarters and how you clean them is your business, but sweeping the walkways or planting grass and mowing those lawns in front of the Weyr buildings has to be done the same way by everyone."

Nancy looked surprised, then she slowly nodded in understanding. It was a leadership issue that Harry was teaching her.

"Alright I'll buy that, but why change now?"

Harry smirked. "I don't know about you Nancy, but I would prefer to eat and sleep in a clean, repaired building. In this case we'll be thankful that our magical riders can fix everything in short order. Doing it the normal way could take a week or more. Sometimes you need to bend a rule to avoid inconveniencing everyone. Unless you like sweeping and scrubbing floors by hand?"

Nancy shook her head to the chuckles of the others.

"You have your orders, let's get cracking," Harry said. The Wing leaders and seconds filed from the room leaving Harry, Dan and Emma and Yoshi standing in what would have been the eating area of the kitchen hall.

"You handled that really well Harry," Dan said quietly.

"I agree. I know we spoke of this before, but I did not realize the extent that you must go to prevent your abilities from breeding resentment," Yoshi said softly.

"My riders are allowed to use their abilities as they wish when they are not performing Weyr duties. But we all have to do things the same way. For the wizards it means they come to learn to respect the normal riders and how they must live their lives. The normal riders appreciate the effort and appreciate the magic that their friends can do to help them all."

Emma nodded knowingly; she had helped organize the witches so someone would be available after every meal to cast the anti-cramping spell on the normal female riders. It was a service that most of the boys didn't know about and the reason why the witches were universally liked by all of the normal girls. As a whole, the witches were appalled by the fact that there was little relief to be had for their normal counterparts and they were eager to help their sister riders.

Harry pulled his wand from its holster and Yoshi's eyebrows rose. This was the first time he saw one of the glowing Jordan wands. Hermione's wand had the same glow, but it was more muted than his was. He waved his wand and all of the remaining windows pieced themselves together and the doors that were barely hanging on straightened and reattached themselves.

A second spell had the entire large dining area spotless and looking like it had been freshly painted.

"Oh Harry, I want you around next time we do spring cleaning," Emma murmured.

Harry grinned broadly, then he turned his attention back to the map he had laid out on the table. "Now that this room is taken care of we can get back to business," he murmured.

"Bonth?" he called.

"_Yes Weyrleader?"_

"Send out your wings and let's see if we can get an idea of what we're dealing with," Harry ordered. "Have them bespeak to Chekiath or Dronth if they locate any pockets of dementors. Remember, this is an exploration trip only, not an attack. I don't want you to fight any dementors."

"_At once Weyrleader,"_ replied the senior dragon of Sakushima Weyr.

Yoshi stepped closer and glanced upwards when he heard the sound of many dragon wings. "You are starting already?"

Harry pointed to the map. "No point in sitting idle. Sakushima can scout out the area and give us an idea of where the dementors are while we fix up the camp. They will pass the imagery to Soranth and Chekiath. Lee is adept at picking a location out of his dragon's mind and locating it on a map," Harry replied, then he dropped his voice. "Also it will give the dragons of Sakushima a sense of participating. They will be helping to turn their Weyr into a true manned Weyr. Dragons are truly no different than people in that they like to feel needed and that they can contribute to a cause."

Yoshi nodded. "A sound plan Harry-san. The dragons help build a home for themselves and you end up with a leg up on finding the dementors."

A pop announced the arrival of Tinny and a crew of ten elves. Harry smiled at the elves who looked around warily until they spotted Harry, then they relaxed. The elves had come to trust the riders and in particular, Harry, but they were still wary when entering an unknown situation like Camp Orange Blossom.

"Tinny, I hope you and your crew are up to some hard work, we have a mess in the kitchen and the stoves need to be cleaned and repaired before any meals can be made," Harry said. Harry had looked in on the kitchen earlier and it was a total wreck. The kitchen was a disaster. It seemed that the vandals had payed close attention to the room and it's machinery.

Tinny nodded and he walked over to the swinging double doors that led into the kitchen. As the elves entered the kitchen they became a blur as they went to work.

Harry turned back to the map on the table and thought about what should be done next.

"Harry-san, with your permission I will depart for a while. There are people I must meet with and arrangements to make," Yoshi said.

Harry nodded. "Thank you Yoshi, your help has been invaluable and I'm certain it will continue to remain so. The Weyr is honored to have your help."

Yoshi bowed and smiled thinly, then he vanished with a very soft popping sound. Emma shook her head at the sight and looked at Harry. "When will you and Hermione learn to do that?"

Harry frowned. "Before the end of the year I think. Remus has brought it up several times now, but there hasn't been time."

Harry took a moment to sit and rest for a moment. As he sat, he examined the map on the table and considered the problems facing the Weyr in finding the dementors. The thick forest was going to make spotting dementors and herding them to the one large clearing difficult.

"How are you holding up?" asked Emma gently.

He looked up startled; he had forgotten they were there! "I'm fine, I guess I'm just a bit shocked at how badly run down this place is. It suggests that the muggle and magical ministries don't talk to each other very well."

"You're handling things well though, my first inclination after seeing this place was to go home," Dan replied. "Instead you accepted the mess and put people to work fixing it. The camp will be in working order in no time."

Emma moved a little closer to Harry. "Harry dear," she said hesitantly. Harry immediately perked up, Emma never called him that before and he wasn't sure what it meant. "No one was happier than I was when you and Hermione managed to solve your differences. Even Dan eventually understood there were factors involved that were outside anyone's influences."

Dan nodded solemnly. He approved of Harry for Hermione but their three way relationship bothered him still. He didn't make a stink about it, but Emma knew he was resigned to it at this point. Emma privately wondered if part of Dan's problem was a touch of envy.

Dan didn't really understand what was involved. What Harry, Hermione and May had was totally unlike anything he knew about. All Dan really saw was one man with two beautiful young women, one of which happened to be his daughter.

Dan had come to accept what was happening, but still really didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes. Emma knew more than he did, and had to deal with both girls who tearfully confessed to snapping at Harry for no real reason except that it was that time of the month. Magic might help with the physical cramping of their periods, but it did little to help with the occasional mood swing.

Harry bore their treatment stoically until Emma put her foot down and made the two girls explain their behavior to him.

"There is one issue we've wanted to bring up, but were reluctant to mention. I know that you have spoken to Hermione and May about some kind of handfasting ceremony, but at some point Hermione's family is going to want to see her settled down properly."

Dan sighed and wiped at his face. Sometimes Emma could be so obtuse even he had trouble understanding her and the look on Harry's face said he hadn't a clue what she was talking about. "Harry," he said, jumping in. "Em is talking about a marriage service at some point."

Harry blinked and stared at Dan for a moment before looking at Emma who nodded also. "You know I would marry them both if I could, but it's not legal," he replied softly.

"We know," Dan admitted. "And Hermione told us just how unhappy it made you when you were certain it wasn't legal. We understand the legal issues, but at some point Hermione's grandparents on my side are going to want to see their only granddaughter get married."

Harry leaned forward on his seat and rubbed at his temples tiredly. "And I suppose being at the handfasting service won't be good enough?"

"I wish it would," Emma replied. "Dan has a large family with several brothers and sisters. Trying to explain your three way relationship would probably ignite a small war."

Dan placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Nothing need happen immediately, but we need to figure out a solution for this. I know you were planning to hold the handfasting several years from now and I'm fine with that time frame. I... We wanted you to know about this so we all could plan for it."

Harry nodded and looked up at Dan. "Thank you. And while I'm at it thank you for being so accepting. I can't imagine how hard it been for you."

Dan smiled wryly. "You have no idea. But someday when you have girls of your own, I hope you find out."

"Dan," Emma warned with a small smile, and then she turned to Harry. "You make her happy. That's all that matters to us. You treat her and May very well, neither Dan nor I can complain about that. Hermione has explained to me about some of the difficulties you three have had to deal with. I think everyone has been amazed at how mature all three of you approached this."

"Six," Harry said softly. "That has been the problem from the start. Everyone sees me and two beautiful girls and immediately think this is some kind of wild sex thing. It's not. It's six people, three of whom happen to be dragons."

Harry tapped his forehead. "There is no privacy from our dragons. I can't shut Cheki out, nor would I want to. But that also means that I can feel what he feels and he can feel what I feel. The girls are in the same situation with their bond and it's always there, reinforcing what we normally feel. It's becoming more pronounced because of the dragon bond. Through the bond we can feel each others emotions, I can't speak for May or Hermione but I am keenly aware of their feelings and know instantly if I do something that makes them unhappy."

He stood and stretched a little. "I will talk to Hermione about this. We'll figure out how to handle this I'm certain. But now I better go help with the repairs."

He started to walk, but Emma stopped him by pulling him into a light hug. "Thank you for listening. Hermione and May are very lucky girls and I don't know if it helps, but if you were my son I would be very proud of you," she said.

He smiled at her and she released him. After he walked out of the building Dan turned to Emma. "I hated laying that on him. He's got so much to worry about as it is."

Emma walked over to Dan and wrapped her arms around him. "Harry will be fine. He has two very smart women to help him."

Later that evening, Harry lay cuddled in an enlarged sleeping bag with May and Hermione. A cushioning charm hid the fact that they were lying on a hard wood floor. All three were tired from the day's efforts. Harry had joined the others, repairing the parts of the camp where the repairs were too big for a regular magic user to handle.

He had briefly considered returning to Campbeltown, but then he remembered the time difference. They would be arriving back in Scotland to sleep and it would be daytime there.

"You're awful quiet tonight Harry, what's wrong?" asked May.

Harry smiled in the darkness and gently caressed her hair as she cuddled into his shoulder. This was their bond at work. They were becoming aware of his emotions as much as he was becoming aware of theirs. It was subtle and often hard to interpret, but it was there. "I was just thinking about something Hermione's parents said to me today."

Hermione instantly tensed against him and he reached with his other hand to caress her as well. "Oh?" she asked warily.

He smiled in the darkness, with both girls cuddling against him like this he often found himself embarrassed by his body's reaction. Both girls were aware of what his reaction often was and had worked out their own ways of solving it.

"Tomorrow morning," Hermione whispered in his ear and then she gave him a brief caress before moving back again. He sucked in a breath and nodded. It took him a moment to recenter himself, and then he continued with the conversation. Tomorrow morning he would have company in the shower. Hermione seemed to really enjoy the bath/shower and it was her way of helping him deal with 'issues'. Naturally he did all he could to help her in return.

"Your Mum and Dad told me that at some point your family is going to want to see you get married. And the more I think on it, the same probably holds true for May's family as well. It wouldn't be a problem if it was just the parents, they know what kind of relationship we have and will be present at our handfasting. But..."

"It's not just our parents," Hermione said with a dawning realization of the can of worms being opened. "My dad's parents are still alive and there are two aunts and another uncle, all with kids of their own."

"We have time, no one expects this right away, but we're going to have to come up with a solution that makes the families happy without getting me arrested," Harry said.

"My family is small, but both of sets of grandparents are still alive," May murmured. "We have time right?"

Harry smiled in the darkness. "Yes we have years still. Even if I replace your promise rings with an engagement ring at eighteen, I want to wait until we're at least twenty before asking Eddie to perform her service."

May lifted her head off his shoulder and peered at him in the darkness. "I'd do it tomorrow if we could, but that wouldn't solve this problem."

Harry pulled her gently forward until he could kiss her forehead, then he did the same to Hermione. "I would also, but I look at the handfasting as the last step before starting our own family."

"You look what?" exclaimed Hermione.

Harry chuckled. "I didn't say that was when we'd start sweetheart. All it is is the point where we feel we're adult enough to handle that kind of responsibility. I'm hoping by that point the Weyr will be running smoothly and most of our problems will have been solved by then."

May poked him in the ribs and he jerked slightly. "Hey!"

"Problems solved?" she said with a throaty chuckle. "Adding children introduces a whole host of new problems Harry. But I understand what you're saying. I would be happy to give you a couple of girls a few years after our handfasting."

"Girls? Sure of yourself aren't you?" Harry said with a laugh.

"The father is the one who decides the sex of the child," Hermione reminded them both.

"As long as the children are healthy and my wives are healthy I don't care what they are," Harry said fervently.

"_Will we have to adjust Disko for human hatchings Harry? The sands might be too hot,"_ Chekiath suddenly asked.

Outside Harry's quarters Ronan paused when he suddenly heard the sound of three people laughing. He smiled and shook his head. "Lucky bastard," he muttered, and then he continued on to where his dragon waited. This close to the dementor preserve he was on first shift night patrol with several others.

**Kitchen Hall, Camp Orange Blossom, August 6****th****...**

Harry bent over a table examining a map that Lee had handed him earlier. It was mid-morning and the riders were assembling after an uneasy night sleeping on the floor of the buildings. Yoshi had contacted Harry early and informed him that a Japanese Defense Force convoy was en-route to the camp with beds, food and other basic supplies.

After he left Harry and the others the previous day, Yoshi returned to the Imperial Palace where he had an office and with a few messages cut short a number of careers and sent many underlings scurrying to do his bidding.

Harry looked up and noted most of the riders had entered the building. "Time to get this show on the road," he muttered to Ronan, and then he turned to the riders. "Good morning. If you're like me, your back is probably wondering what happened to our comfortable beds. Even with the cushioning charms, my back knew it was still a floor I slept on. Well the good news is that within the hour a Japanese Defense Force convoy of supplies, including beds will be arriving. Since these are mundanes making the delivery we can't use the elves to unload the trucks. That means us and our backs no matter how much they may be complaining."

Harry grinned at the low groan that rippled through the hall. "Don't expect normal bedding either. These will be futons, which I can assure you will be far more comfortable than a hard wooden floor with a cushioning charm."

"Draco, organize your wing to move all the food supplies into the kitchen. The elves will take it from there. I'm also pleased to announce that Tinny and his crew managed to finally get the stoves and refrigerator working. So tomorrow's breakfast will be more than cold cereal and tea. For that matter he's promised a nice hot English dinner tonight even if he has to send someone to Campbeltown for the ingredients."

He paused while an appreciative murmur ran through the riders.

"Sakushima really came through for us yesterday so we now have a map of three clusters of dementors within the reserve. They have been continuously overflying these clusters and the dementors do not seem to be moving around much nor do they seem to be aware of our presence. That's the good news, the bad news is even with the clusters there are a fair number of solitary dementors that we'll have to track down.

"Considering the state of Orange Blossom we'll not do anymore than monitor the dementors for the next day while we finish putting the camp back in order. During that time each wing will take the time out to make some overflights of the area just to get used to the terrain. Wing leaders, make sure everyone knows where the capture clearing is. We'll begin herding them in three days. Sakushima will maintain a round the clock patrol which we'll augment at night with a few riders. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want some overhead coverage when we're this close to dementors."

Luna stood up, "Harry, those clusters might be clans or family groups. Little is known about dementors, but they are sentient to an extent and even in Azkaban it was noted that some dementors seemed to favor the company of select others."

Harry nodded thoughtfully and was silent for a moment. "I was not aware they had a sentience to them Luna but now that I'm thinking about it, they had to be to follow orders at Azkaban. I never really thought about it much," he replied softly. "What else do we know about them? If we sweep up one cluster, what will the others do?"

Luna looked uncomfortable. "Honestly not much is known about them Harry. They are a form of demon. No one knows how they came into existence in our reality. The first recorded dementor sighting can be found in an ancient Egyptian scroll that's nearly thirty three hundred years old. What we do know is that there are realities in which demons are the primary form of life. It was thought that the dementors somehow managed to bridge the two realities, perhaps being summoned here accidentally. Their intelligence is very low but we have to assume they communicate. The warden at Azkaban used to issue orders to one dementor only and they would still follow those orders."

Lydia Drake stood up, her expression was deeply troubled. She was the wing second for Wing six. "Harry, I'm not sure I like the idea of killing intelligent beings," she said.

Harry saw that there were a number of faces among his riders that seemed to agree. He sat on the edge of the table and faced his riders.

"Dementors may be intelligent Lydia," he said, speaking directly to her, but he was addressing the entire hall. "But they look upon people as a food source. The British wizards used to use them to execute prisoners by sucking out their victim's soul. When they weren't used to execute prisoners, they were used to guard a prison so terrible it drove most men insane.

"The Weyr suffered our first dragon death when one hundred of the beasts attacked Balmoral castle. You've all seen Narth, the leader of the Balmoral dragon guard, limping around the Weyr. He survived an attack of dementors, and Ranglieth died. Far too many people died that day whose only crime was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Lydia, ask your dragon what she thinks. Then consider that your dragon wouldn't dream of killing a goblin, human or elf, but they hate these creatures with a passion."

Harry paused when he saw a number of surprised faces among the riders. Many of the newer riders who had no experience with dementors were discovering exactly what their dragons thought about dementors. May stood and crossed her arms, her expression showed she was deeply unhappy about something. Harry acknowledged her wish to speak with a nod.

"Lydia, I don't like the idea of killing anything intelligent either, but these things are evil." May paused and visibly shivered. "I can't explain it any better than that. I watched Harry and Cheki dive onto a... thing that just radiated terror. It wasn't afraid, no it radiated terror that infected everyone nearby, it was a weapon for the creature and not an emotional response to being in danger. It wasn't even near me and I was ready to pack up and go home. These things are beyond dangerous, it's like someone opened a door to your worst nightmare and out poured dementors. If Harry said he wanted us eliminate elves or goblins I'd be the first to refuse. Dementors scare me silly, but I will help destroy them. There is no room for them in this world. They don't belong here at all."

Lydia looked at May and nodded slowly. She wasn't entirely convinced, but she also knew May well enough to know she wasn't prone to making such passionate statements.

"Thank you May," Harry said softly, then he turned his attention to Lydia. "I know, it's distasteful and it makes you feel uncomfortable, but you need to remember these aren't people, or animals even. They came from a totally alien environment and they feed on people."

"Dragons came from an alien environment," Lydia counted hesitantly. She was now sounding unsure of her argument.

Harry nodded. "That's right, they did. They came from another planet in this universe, probably within our own galaxy. And during the time of beasts they considered everything that moved as food, not just people. But they've moved past that point with the help of people like you Lydia. Where would your Hanth be without your love and help?

"The ability of a dementor to instill a crippling fear in a human suggests it's an evolved weapon used against its natural prey source. The really disturbing thought is that it means that perhaps humans really are their prey in their own dimension. That, or we are just unlucky enough that we're similar enough to their prey for their weapons to work on us."

Harry paused and ran a hand through his hair. "Lydia, I won't force you to kill dementors. If Hanth's own fears about the beasts don't convince you then nothing I say will. If you aren't comfortable with the idea, let me know and I'll assign you to some camp duty."

Lydia blinked in shock at Harry and she shook her head. "I'll do my part," she said. "I may not be comfortable with it, but Hanth says that it's wrong to automatically assume intelligence means benevolence."

Harry relaxed; he knew that Lydia had received his other message as had many others in the building. If he assigned her camp duty she would almost certainly be replaced as Wing second. This mission was too important to allow a wing to function with a reluctant wing second.

"Today is the sixth. We're scheduled for an appearance at the Imperial Palace in six days' time. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd really like to report that most of the dementors are gone by then," Harry said. "We're not scheduled to return to Campbeltown until the 20th and the quicker we can get this job done, the quicker we can look over the proposed site for Sakushima and start our candidate search."

A murmur of agreement ran through the riders, they all wanted to get this unpleasant part done. Helping Sakushima transition to a manned Weyr was more important in their mind. Harry glanced down at his notes and his expression grew pinched. "Finally this afternoon we are due to receive some visitors from the Japanese Ministry of Magic. They will be bringing with them enchanted earrings that will allow all of us to speak and understand Japanese. I have been told that these earrings are capable of providing translations for most human languages. Normally these are not available to anyone but members of the Japanese Ministry of magic, but they are being gifted to us. Do not lose yours, replacements are not available. In order to appear normal to any mundane inspection, the earrings are pierced."

He paused and smiled thinly at the site of the girls looking very interested and some of the boys looking rather unhappy. He couldn't blame them, he never thought he'd wear any kind of jewelry other than his wristwatch, and that could hardly be called fine jewelry. He still wore the cheap watch with the cracked crystal face that he had found in Dudley's second bedroom.

"For you ladies, there is a set of two earrings, but only one does the translation. If you're interested in knowing which, you'll have to ask the Ministry representative when you receive your pair."

He looked up at the sound of engines rumbling in the distance. "That's our food and supplies, let's get cracking folks," he called, then he rolled up his sleeves and headed for the door.

The trucks were just coming through the main gate when he stepped out of the building. Officially the Weyr was occupying this camp while they surveyed land for the Weyr and began a search for rider candidates. Only the ministry of magic and a select few in the normal government knew about the mission to eradicate the dementors.

**US Department of Magic, Washington DC, August 10th...**

Arthur Weasley felt decidedly out of place. Here he was, representing his ministry and he was uncomfortable with the fact that not a single person around him was wearing a traditional Wizarding robe.

The American Department of Magic was more closely tied to it's muggle government and because of that fact, these wizards and witches all tended to wear muggle style clothing instead of robes. It was just slightly intimidating to the wizard from Ottery St. Catchpole.

"Mr. Weasley?"

Arthur looked up from the magazine he had been trying to read to see a smartly dressed middle aged witch. "Yes?"

"Secretary Jackson will see you now," she said, "If you will please follow me?"

Arthur nodded and placed the magazine down, then he stood and followed the witch into a lushly appointed corner office that had a magnificent view of the city.

"Mister Secretary, this is Senior Undersecretary Weasley from the United Kingdom," the secretary said softly.

Lyle "Ducky" Jackson looked up from his desk and his face assumed a politician's smile. "Welcome!", he boomed, "Come on in and have a seat."

Arthur sat down and placed a small case at his feet.

"Now then, how can the United States help our British cousins?" asked the Secretary.

Arthur smiled weakly and waited for a moment until the witch had left the room. "Mister Secretary, as you are aware, I've been co-opted to fill the role that Albus Dumbledore once held."

Jackson nodded sagely, "Yes, his loss was a great blow to your nation and to the world. He will be greatly missed by everyone."

"Yes sir," Arthur agreed, then he plunged on, "Sir, the reason I am here is because Albus had been working on an idea. Unfortunately he had left only a few notes on his plan so it fell to me to put his ideas together. I'm sure you are aware that my ministry has a mandate from the crown to find a way to integrate both societies."

Jackson nodded. "I do, but I'll be damned if I know how you can manage it. We've been watching your government carefully to see what happens."

Arthur leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Actually sir, thanks in part to Albus Dumbledore, Her Majesty's government hasn't yet started on it's mandate. Everyone had this image of announcing our existence like they did with the dragons and just sitting back to watch what happens. Albus had a different concept and the more I thought on it, the more I thought it might work, but we would need to gather as much ICW support as possible for it."

Jackson leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on the table. "Oh? How can it be done then?"

"Albus was sketched a rough outline of a plan that would take at least five decades to complete. This is a job that you and I would start, but it would be our children or grandchildren that would complete it. Albus wanted to introduce small selected portions of our world, slowly. For example, he thought to announce a pain relieving potion that was invented by a tribal shaman in South America. He knew that mundane science would probably be baffled by a potion that worked and they couldn't say why it worked.

"His idea was to slowly expose pieces of our world until the rest of the world knew about magic even though the governments had not revealed the truth. When the governments did reveal the truth, people would already be mostly aware of it and it wouldn't be that much of a shock to them.

"The dragon announcement came as a shock to the world, and the Weyrs have paid the price for that announcement with massive media attention, some of which has been rather unpleasant. Done right we can avoid most of that process because people will have had fifty years of small surprises instead of one big surprise."

Arthur took a breath and watched Jackson carefully. He had explained his position and that of his Ministry.

"That is an ambitious plan you have Mister Weasley," Jackson said softly.

"Yes sir it is, but it can't be done without help. As much as we wizards like to think our country's are isolated and unique, we all share this world. If Britain were to follow this plan alone, it could result in world wide chaos," Arthur replied.

"Yes, I can easily see that happening. I take it you have an idea of how to combat that?"

Arthur leaned down and picked up his carry case. "I do sir. My government has asked me to present this plan to the ICW. If we can obtain a majority approval we'll be in a better shape to avoid problems in the future."

Arthur placed his case on his lap and pulled his wand slightly from his holster. "With your permission Mister Secretary?"

Jackson nodded a bit cautiously and Arthur removed his wand and cast the spell to open the space enlarged case, then he carefully placed his wand on the table, far enough away to make Jackson relax. "My government sir, wants to form a coalition under the umbrella of the ICW for the purposes of implementing a carefully orchestrated reveal to the muggle world. I have laid out a preliminary plan, but even before that can be agreed upon, I must garner the support we need among the world ministries."

Arthur pulled out a stack of printouts and drawings from the case. "Her Majesty's government estimates that the secret will come out whether we like it or not sometime in the next fifty to seventy five years. If we don't act to preserve ourselves we risk a revival of the inquisition."

Jackson winced and nodded in agreement, he had seen the projections from the Department of the Interior. Large parts of the Military and Intelligence community already knew about wizards and now private corporations were putting satellites in orbit that were nearly as good as the professional intelligence gathering satellites.

"Mister Weasley, I think I can safely say that the US Government will back your proposal. In fact I am going to send you to a gentleman I have working for me who has been struggling with the same problem. Unlike you, he was trying to work out a plan that would have happened over the course of months. I think your long term plan is a better approach however.

"I will ask our normal government agencies to provide you with materials you can use when you present your case to the ICW," Jackson said. "How long will you be in DC?"

Arthur smiled in relief, "I was only supposed to be here for three days, then I'm off to stop in Toronto before taking a portkey to Japan. I'm trying to sound out Ministries and garner their support before presenting this to a full session of the ICW."

"Excellent, gather up your material and let me introduce you to one of our Wiz kids. He's a young man, but Blaine Reading is a wizard who holds a normal degree in sociology. You can explain the details to him and we'll see where we can go from there."

Arthur practically bounced to his feet and shook the Secretary's hand vigorously. "Thank you sir, I was fearful that this would be harder to sell."

Jackson smiled, but he shook his head. "It will be harder to sell, but you got lucky today Mister Weasley. We already knew this was becoming an issue, but to be honest we really didn't know what to do about it. Just remember that not everyone will agree with your plan. "

Arthur nodded soberly. Jackson had been right to warn him that his plan wouldn't meet universal approval.

"Still sir, I am encouraged. Our Prime Minister suggested visiting your country first, he felt that our unique relationship would work in my favor," Arthur admitted.

Jackson chuckled. "That it did," he replied. He was enough of a politician to understand the unique relationship that existed between the UK and the US. It was a fundamental part of both country's policies to see that American and British interests rarely clashed.

**The Imperial Palace, Tokyo Japan, August 12****th****...**

Harry slid down from his seat on Chekiath and looked around for a moment, and then he turned to Chekiath. The parade grounds in front of the elegant building were not very large. "Land the wings two at a time Cheki, Wingleaders can take their dragons over here by you, but I'm afraid the others will have to find a spot to perch or go to Sakushima until called for. And remind them to stay off the Palace please."

Chekiath looked around for a moment then he turned back to Harry. _"Yes, there isn't enough room for all of us,"_ he replied. As he did Wing one and two came in for a perfect in-formation landing.

Harry nodded absently while he pulled off his gloves and put his beret on. He smiled seeing Yoshi nearby looking very excited and he nodded in greeting to the elder mage. As each wing landed, the riders scrambled down and quickly removed their gloves and donned their berets. They were dressed in their dress uniforms for this occasion and despite Harry's wishes, they were lining up in a formation along Wing lines.

Harry hadn't wanted the Weyr to appear so militaristic, but he had reluctantly agreed since they were often appearing at formal public occasions and the neat lines of Wings and riders looked far better than a milling mob.

Getting to this point had been an interesting exercise. The last five days had been hectic and at points downright exciting. Yoshi was ecstatic over their kill count, one hundred and nineteen confirmed dementor kills and not a single injury related to the dementors.

There had been injuries, but none of them were related to the action against the dementors. Bob Malwich had broken his ankle when his harness snapped on landing. Bob had been catapulted from his seat and came down on one leg, breaking his ankle.

Harry scowled remembering that. Millicent however beat him to the punch when she very publicly upbraided him for not taking proper care of the harness. Bob made up one part of the trio consisting of Millicent, Bob and Sammy Hinerman. After she finished yelling at him she grabbed him in a powerful hug and held him for a long time.

The harnesses were made from standard nylon seat-belt material and while they were more resilient than leather straps, the constant freezing and thawing they underwent weakened them until they broke. Metal chain had been tried, but it proved to be too heavy and could cause frost bite if it came in contact with skin for too long. Attempting to coat the chain with a rubber coating resulted in the coating cracking off after only a few trips Between.

Each rider knew that they were responsible to maintain their harnesses, and Bob Malwich had neglected that task which resulted in him breaking his ankle.

Bob had been treated at a local muggle hospital and then sent back to Campbeltown. Harry knew he couldn't do much while the bone healed, so Harry gave him the task of checking every harness in their supply room for cracks and other signs of wear. After that he would inventory their stock of equipment.

It wasn't uncommon for a rider to have to swap an old wet harness for a new one. The older harness was dried out, tested and usually returned to stores so it could be reused. By Ronan's estimate there were some three hundred harnesses in stores that Bob would have to visually inspect and test.

"You are well Weyrleader?" asked Yoshi.

Harry smiled again and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I was just wool gathering. The Weyr is well and eager to meet the Emperor."

"And your injured rider? I heard about that yesterday," pressed Yoshi.

"He will recover, it was an accident that's all. I have sent him and his dragon back to Scotland," he replied. Harry didn't really like discussing Weyr business with outsiders, but he needed Yoshi's support so he was willing to bend his rules in this case.

"Bunta tells me that you were frightening in your intensity when you dressed down your rider," Yoshi offered. The elder mage was intrigued by Harry and what motivated him, so he had the muggle liaison report any unusual circumstances to him.

Harry turned and eyed the man for a moment. Bunta Saito was the Japanese muggle government liaison that Yoshi had arranged to stay at the camp with them. Harry realized that the man would be reporting to the Japanese on events unfolding at the camp, it was a necessary evil, but they needed the man to smooth the way for them, and most understood he would also report on their activities.

"Bob Malwich made an error which resulted in a personal injury. He became careless and risked himself and his dragon in an easily avoidable accident. I do not enjoy having to punish my people, but our lives and the lives of our dragons are too important to allow anyone to become lazy and cut corners.

He knows he made a mistake. He knows what he did was wrong and he knows that he was sent home early as punishment. Yelling at him would have been a waste of time. He knows what he did endangered himself and his dragon.

"He is a good rider and this is the first time he's done something stupid. I have faith that it will be a long time before he repeats this mistake," Harry said.

Yoshi nodded sagely. He had spent several hours last night listening to Bunta Saito speak in fearful tones about the Weyrleader dressing down his rider in a low tone that sent shivers down his spine. Twice a month Harry held a session after breakfast in which he would deal with problems that cropped up among the riders. For the most part these sessions were lighthearted and often Harry would go out of his way to praise and reward a rider for some innovation they had come up with.

In Bob Malwich's case he stood in front of Harry, crutches under both arms and stood silent while Harry read him the riot act for neglecting his safety checks. He never raised his voice, but he had managed to scare and impress the Japanese liaison who was used to superiors that shouted.

Harry used the experience to hammer home a very important lesson that the riders needed to be reminded of. A careless mistake could result in the death of two people, the rider and then the dragon who would suicide by jumping Between. It was a sobering thought that resulted in a number of the riders going back and meticulously checking their own harnesses.

From one of buildings lining the parade grounds a pair of doors opened and two adults stepped out followed by dozens of children all dressed in uniform.

"The children of the palace staff all attend the same school. It was felt it would be best if they wore their school uniforms today," Yoshi said softly then he glanced at the dragons who started making a thrumming noise. The noise had been described by various news broadcasts as the dragon version of a cat's purr.

Harry smiled and nodded to Chekiath who made a sharp barking sound. Soranth and Buth landed nearby and Lee and Mariah stepped from their group and joined their dragons. Mariah had a large box of the dragon posters while Lee would talk to the teachers and students. Harry's smile broadened when he saw the teachers struggling to hold back the children.

Some of the littler children rushed out to meet Soranth and Buth partway. Both dragons stopped in their tracks and just waited for the children to reach them. They knew that sometimes the younger children could hurt themselves if the dragons weren't mindful of where they were.

The main doors to the palace opened and a large group of people exited the building. The two teachers said something sharply to the students who turned and bowed deeply. It was obvious that the small crowd of people were surrounding the Emperor and his wife.

Yoshi stiffened next to Harry and he turned to face the older looking gentleman and the stately woman next to him. The crowd cleared in front of the pair, making way for them to exit the building.

"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor Akihito and his wife the Empress," Yoshi said softly to Harry, "Please Harry-san, follow me."

Yoshi strode forward confidently. He was known at court as a close family friend to the Imperial family, but few knew of his real function as the Imperial Wizard. Harry followed Yoshi and Chekiath followed him. The approach of Chekiath was enough to make the Emperor and Empress pause in their footsteps, stopping just at the top of the short stairway down to the parade grounds.

Yoshi stopped a few feet short of the steps and bowed deeply. Harry was impressed; he had never seen the old mage show that kind of respect before. Self-consciously Harry fingered the small silver star earring that had been provided to the riders. The girls were offered a more ornate flower earring with inlaid gold filigree and the boys had a simpler design of a single small five pointed star.

"If it please your Majesty, I present to you Weyrleader Harry Potter of Campbeltown Weyr and his bonded dragon Chekiath," Yoshi said loudly, then he turned to Harry. "Weyrleader, his Imperial Majesty the Emperor and the Empress."

Harry bowed as if he were bowing to the Queen of England. It was a shallow bow compared to Yoshi's bow, but it was an acceptable bow for a meeting between leaders. "Your Majesty," he said, then he side stepped a half step and Cheki craned his long neck so that his head was just over Harry's right shoulder.  
_"Lord and Lady Holder, the Weyr is honored to visit today. May you find peace and shelter under our wings."_

Akihito watched Cheki with a very interested eye. Like his father before him, he was an acknowledged Ichthyologist and a recognized specialist in the study of Gobiidae. Harry could tell the biologist in the man was busy cataloging and examining Cheki. The Empress frowned slightly and Harry bit back smile when he noted her barely nudging her husband.

The Emperor blinked momentarily, then he smiled. "Welcome Weyrleader and welcome noble dragons to our land." He waved towards a cadre of news people and smiled, then in a much softer voice he said, "We will talk to the reporters for a little bit, then while they are busy talking to the dragons and the children, we'll stroll in the gardens and speak privately. My dear friend Yoshi tells me we have much to thank you and your dragons for Weyrleader."

Harry was relieved that this meeting wouldn't be under the lenses of the press. "We managed to get lucky. Yoshi and I agree, if the original figures are correct, then there are less than a handful of dementors remaining. I've asked Bonth to continue his overflights as a precaution. But two solid days of overflights failed to locate any more of the creatures."

"And if they find any?" pressed the Emperor.

"One of the advantages of being a dragon rider your Majesty, it takes us only a few minutes to go from Scotland to Hokkaido. And in a year, two at the most you will have your own Weyr that can deal with the problem if it arises again."

Harry stopped and looked up at Chekiath who turned his attention to the Emperor. _"Dementors are an abomination Lord Holder. The Weyr will always do what it can to eliminate those foul things."_

Harry glanced towards the press and was pleased to note that they were too busy talking to Mariah and Lee to take much notice of Chekiath. He was glad that Chekiath had learned to limit the range of his conversations so that not everyone could hear him if he wanted.

The Emperor stared at Cheki for a moment, and then he turned to Harry with an inquisitive expression.

"Has Mr. Musabe explained what a dementor is capable of doing your Majesty?"

"He has. Terrible creatures, something I never thought I would say about a creature."

Harry reached up and touched Chekiath, who crooned softly and moved his large head close enough for Harry to caress his eye ridges. "For eons the dragons lived their lives, locked inside their minds, unable to communicate with people or other dragons. For the most part their higher mental abilities were severely curtailed. But their memory is practically photographic, even if they had no understanding of what they witnessed at that time.

"A dementor will take a dragon and force them back into that state. Imagine that, just the very presence of these demons can cause you to lose your ability to think and reason. A rider can prevent his or her dragon from losing their intelligence, but for an un-bonded dragon they have no such protection. Dragons are mighty beings with some fantastic abilities and yet they wisely fear dementors and know that only a concerted effort can accomplish ridding our world of this menace."

"_Narth is crippled because of them, and Ranglieth is no more,"_ Chekiath added softly. It was impossible to miss the sorrow in his voice.

Harry nodded then he reached with a hand to comfort his dragon. "During the conflict to return control of the British Ministry of Magic to the crown, a witch staged an attack on Balmoral castle in an attempt to assassinate the Queen of England. Fifty visitors to the castle were killed, and of the ten dragons guarding the Queen, several were injured, one was permanently crippled and another was killed. The dragons have no natural enemies on this planet, but the dementors are probably as close to an enemy as you can get."

"May I?"

Harry smiled as the Empress stepped forward and looked at Chekiath with a sense of longing. He nodded and Chekiath moved closer to the Empress. It wasn't common for her to be so forward, but it was obvious she was eager to touch the dragon.

The Emperor watched his wife with a gentle smile as she stroked Cheki's eye ridges.

"Dragons are a symbol of power and luck," Yoshi added quietly. "While their meaning has been commercialized in recent years many still believe in the old ways. Japanese people will see a weyr of our own as a symbol of luck and prosperity."

Chekiath thrummed softly and Harry took a deep breath, he suddenly knew what was coming. _"The Lady Holder honors me, but her eagerness comes from the fact that had she been found early enough in her life she could have been a rider."_

Yoshi sucked in a breath loudly and the Emperor's brow knotted in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Harry's smile broadened, this was perfect in his opinion. "It means that the Empress could have been selected as a dragon rider candidate in her youth. It also suggests that the ability might be found still in the Imperial family your Majesty. The Empress feels a natural kinship with the dragons because of who she is. It is possible that her ability to bond with a dragon may have been passed to her children. We are due to start a search for candidates among your people but we would never dream of searching your family without your permission."

Yoshi looked at Harry like he was crazy but Harry wasn't about to let that stop him now. A connection to the Imperial family, even if it was just a particular fondness for dragons because part of that family could impress was something Harry was willing to cultivate. The Emperor smiled and shook his head. "We will speak of this after we have talked with the reporters Weyrleader."

Harry bowed slightly and glanced over to see the Empress talking softly to Chekiath. The sound of children's laughter drew their attention. The press was busy photographing the children interact with the dragons while others set up some video cameras.

This particular press conference was much more civilized than Harry had previously experienced. There was a single interviewer who would ask questions that had been submitted by a myriad of Japanese news agencies. It sure beat standing in front of a podium with dozens of people shouting questions.

One of the courtiers coughed politely and the Emperor nodded, then he gently pulled his Empress away from Chekiath. "Excuse us please noble dragon, but the reporters are ready for us."

"_This is the part I never like very much,"_ Chekiath replied. _"The cameras always make me uncomfortable."_

The Emperor stopped in his tracks and a soft smile spread on his face, then he turned to Chekiath and motioned for him to come closer. "Me too my large friend," he replied with a smile. "Me too."

The four of them laughed as they took seats that had been set up in front of several television cameras. Chekiath maneuvered until he was behind the four. The interviewer, a pretty young woman seemed rather flustered. It was one thing to interview the Emperor, but to do so with a dragon really seemed to rattle her.

Harry glanced at the cameras and noted they were not yet functioning. He leaned forward in is seat. "Miss Hajima, Chekiath will not hurt you. Please relax," he said softly.

"_I wouldn't dream of it TV lady."_ Chekiath added.

She blinked and stared at Harry and Chekiath in shock and he bit back the urge to laugh. Even the Emperor seemed to find the situation amusing.

Hours later he yawned and watched May who was still bouncing around the room in her excitement. After the press conference the Emperor and the Empress escorted Harry down a path towards one of the most beautiful gardens he had ever seen. May in her exuberance rushed up to Harry and started to babble about some of the things she had seen in the garden.

The Empress laughed and questioned May who was an avid amateur gardener. When they left the palace several hours later May was pulled aside by one of the courtiers and handed a small envelope describing a gift that would be headed their way via the Japanese Embassy in London. The Weyr would be receiving a supply of river stones that had been handpicked by the Imperial Gardener as well as a prime selection of plants and bonsai trees. It was a generous gift from the Empress of Japan to the healer of dragons and fellow gardener.

They had returned to Camp Orange Blossom for one more night before moving on to Sakushima to survey the proposed Weyr site. Harry lay back and grinned, then he yawned again. Hermione lay next him on her belly. She had a book in front of her but it wasn't her preferred reading position in bed. The futons lacked a proper headboard in her opinion, and that made reading in bed difficult.

A quick glance over to May showed she was wrapped up, rereading the list of materials and deep in making plans for a Weyr garden that even the dragons could enjoy. Shaking his head he settled back in the bed and reached out with one hand to caress Hermione's butt.

She smiled at his touch and moved a little closer to him. She knew he was nearly asleep and would soon be out like a light.

Tomorrow the real purpose for their visit to Japan would begin. They had earned the money to build their weyr. Tomorrow they would begin planning to make that Weyr a reality.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

* Well what can I say? You people have totally ruined this section. How can I mock people and answer questions when most of the reviews were about a single topic?! Spath's passing made people cry, crash their cars, steal candy from babies, email the National Republican Committee with death threats, and even made a few rude people run naked through their neighborhood and they didn't bother to take any pictures for me!

Sigh.

Honestly it really was a bit of an ego boost to know so many people found that particular section moving. Not that I need an ego boost considering I am the almighty Bob. NO! DO NOT LOOK BEHIND THE CURTAIN!

* Now we did have a few people sneak in some questions between the weeping and whaling. Yes, it's whaling season again in fan fiction land folks. Remember you must have a permit on your person at all times and your catches cannot be less than forty feet long or you have to toss them back. Now personally I don't approve of whaling, but it does make one wonder, just what goes into making an Eskimo pie? Real Eskimos?

* A few people have asked if we'll cover some of the pivotal events of the last decade. In a nutshell, yes but some of those events are covered only to justify some of the national stupidity that follows. We will not have dragons preventing 9/11 or the day the Mets won the world series. There was an awful lot of history crammed into the first decade of the century and some of it will be in the story if for no other reason than to give people a frame of reference. However we will not rewrite those events.

* 480 people, most of them non-Australians, explained to me what a Tim Tam is. It's a cookie. Thank you, but seriously if I mention something in the notes and you read that chapter A WEEK LATER, assume that someone else has already explained the cookie to me. :)

* Romus Lupin is very concerned that the dragon dung is being treated in an ecologically friendly manner. Our erstwhile eco-dung mavin wants to know if the goblins are processing it properly. All I can say is that I have reviewed their procedures carefully and other than washing out the cargo containers into a drainage connection that feeds into London's water supply, everything is above board and fine. On the other hand I'm glad we have a deep well here.

* Rexnos wants to know if the dragons could move the world's trash into Between. Well first off you'd have to define trash because if I had them do that, the first thing to go would be the producers of reality TV shows. But seriously, think about it. A city like London must produce millions of pounds of trash in a single week. You'd need millions of dragons doing nothing but trash runs, just to take care of a small region like Europe. It sounds like a nice idea until you realize its a logistical nightmare.

* WhiteElfElder wants to know if the dragons can find something that is Between. No. Anne's son took over writing the dragon rider books and suddenly Between went from being a null state to being a place where things could survive without air for months. So not happening, his version of Between makes as much sense as Deathly Hallows and Horcruxes. Bleh.

* BJH wants to know why Charlie Weasley is anti-dragon. There are a couple of reasons for this.

a) He lost a job which he loved.

b) He's in denial over the concept that he's been participating in killing intelligent beings.

c) He's a stubborn Weasley.

He won't remain anti-dragon, but it will take a few years and something important before he sees the light.

* Alifromnm wished me a great Mother's day. Thank you, but I'll have you know you had me checking my gender several times that day just in case the holiday causes a change that I wasn't aware of. As a result of one such check, I now have a court appearance for public lewdity in Walmart. How was I supposed to know they were taping me?

* A fair number of people commented on the scene with the Weasleys. A few guest reviews flamed me for not bashing them. There is no bashing in this story. The Weasleys are not a pivotal part of this story, but will appear from time to time to give us a view inside the magical world.

* And finally a warning, the next chapter will see the first of several major time jumps. The weyrs are working hard to establish a role for themselves, but still time must march on and in each life there will be milestones that we'll need to touch on.


	4. Chapter 4

**標準免責事項**

Bob stepped from behind the curtain and paused to stare at the section header. _Someone,_ he thought, then he glared at the audience in suspicion, _has been playing with Google translate again and converted my __**'Standard Disclaimer'**__ header into Japanese!_

Bob turned to see Alyx wandering out onto the stage, in one hand she held a bloody foot, in the other hand a rusty hacksaw. Obviously she had been playing with the neighborhood kids again.

"Did you see what someone did!" he exclaimed, then he whirled and pointed to the **'Standard Disclaimer'** header.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, "this is just more proof that aliens exist."

Bob shook his head and wondered why he hadn't picked a more normal wife from the catalog. "Just how do you get from that to Aliens?" he asked, pointing again at the **'Standard Disclaimer'**.

"Real people don't write like that," Alyx retorted confidently. "And will you stop bolding **'Standard Disclaimer'**!"

"You do realize that a significant portion of the world's population uses some form of Calligraphy."

Alyx blushed and hissed at Bob, "Don't talk about that here, this is supposed to be a clean **'Standard Disclaimer'**"

"Hah! Even you can't help bolding **'Standard Disclaimer'**!" Bob crowed.

Alyx moaned and tugged at her hair, "You've infected me you swine! I bet you work for those aliens!"

"Nope, I don't get a paycheck from any aliens," Bob replied, "but how are we supposed to tell people that we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern if someone can just change our **'Standard Disclaimer' **like that?"

"I got this," Alyx exclaimed, then she tossed the bloody foot into the audience to catch their attention. Once they were sufficiently cowed, she struck a heroic pose and said,

"**著者は、誰もが、彼らがハリーポッターやパーンのドラゴンライダーを所有していないことを知っていただきたいと思います。ありがとう。ゴジラが来ている！"**

Bob moaned, "I give up, start the chapter already!"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 04  
Wedding Worries  
**

* * *

**Campbeltown Weyr, May 15****th****, 1998...**

Harry stepped up to the podium and smiled broadly. The theater was less than half full for this very special meeting, "Anyone here feel like they want to take a test?" he asked with a broad grin.

A groan rippled through the assembled riders and he smiled broadly at them. Barely a week had passed since they took their A level exams and NEWTS; just the mention of tests caused people to wince. Harry hadn't bothered taking his NEWTS but he was reasonably pleased with his A level results, not quite as high as May or Hermione, but he was in the top ten percent.

"I know how you feel. First off, congratulations to our magical riders who managed to take their NEWTs and their A levels. Your NEWT results arrived this morning. I have them up here along with your A level results, so come up here to get them when I'm done."

Harry looked up from a sheet of paper he was holding and he grinned. "May would you stand up please?"

May stood and looked around uncertainly.

"May, thanks to your efforts, dragons like Lornth survived where only five years ago he would have certainly died. The riders appreciate your efforts, but they aren't the only ones to appreciate what you have done for us. You have set a standard that every person training to become a Weyrhealer has tried to live up to.

"At the request of Her Majesty, the Queen, you have been awarded a full scholarship to the _Royal Veterinary College_ in London. I know for a fact that you had several other people pulling for you, including Sir David, Sir Robert, Prime Minister Blair and myself. Your scores would have earned you a spot but having a royal request pushed you to the top of the list. Well done May."

May was staring at Harry in total shock which only caused Harry's grin to broaden. "Hermione and I are very proud of you. The college has been informed of your unique circumstances and they are eager to meet you and your dragon. I have been told the book you've been working on will have earned you a lot of advance credit."

May gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing silently and Hermione stood from her seat and gave her a gentle hug, then helped her sit again.

"Hermione, while you're standing, I peeked in your letter; you've been accepted at Cambridge for law. Well done also."

In the back of the hall Emma Granger whooped loudly and the crowd broke up in laughter. Emma was an integral part of the Weyr even if she wasn't a rider. Many of the girls came to her as an alternate mom, plus she provided tutoring in English literature. Her love of Shakespeare was legendary. Emma had even been responsible for the very first all dragon presentation of Macbeth.

Hermione stared at Harry for a moment, and then she collapsed back into her seat amidst the snickers from May.

Harry waited until the theater settled down again. "May wasn't the only full scholarship awarded from an outside source. I'm sitting here with a large pile of acceptance letters and NEWT scores that haven't been opened. In a bit you'll be able to come up here and get your letters and NEWT notices. I want to stress this to each and every one of you. The Weyr will pick up your costs for university schooling or for you to attend a trade school. Unfortunately you'll be limited to being a day student, but then, with your dragon you can return home each day so paying for room and board would be silly."

"Harry, if you haven't opened them then how do you know they are acceptance letters?" Karen Khan asked nervously. She was anxious to know if she had been accepted and Harry's assumption that they had was making her nervous.

Harry grinned. "Because over a month ago the Prime Minister's office received more than a dozen inquiries from universities around the country asking about the legality of allowing Dragon Riders to attend. I have been informed by Lord Mills that the PM's response told the schools there were no legal issues involved and considering the quality of the riders, the schools should be proud to be chosen. You will be there as the first of many riders eventually to attend university.

"Each of you will be going out to represent the Weyr among this nation's finest schools. And they are eager to welcome you. While you won't be expected to wear your formal uniforms, I understand May and Mariah have cobbled together some designs of shirts and jackets showing your affiliation. Speak with them and if there is enough interest, we'll have them made up."

Harry waved his hand towards the large stack of letters and parchment and stepped back from the table as the riders dashed forward to find their letter.

"I note that there is no letter in your hands," Lord Mills said from behind him in a noncommittal voice.

Harry shrugged. "I passed my A levels well enough but it was a difficult struggle to do the study needed and run the Weyr. There is no way I can attend university and still run things here," Harry replied, then he rubbed his chin and absently noted his five o'clock shadow was early today. "James honestly I wish I had the time, but I just can't spare it. Look at what we've had to deal with in just the last year. We've had to evacuate Nevado del Huila to Romeral Weyr and I still can't get anyone in the Columbia government to talk to us. And Al has had to pull me into six different meetings just this last month. He has talks going with two different governments, three companies that want to license the power plant design, another two companies hoping to use dragons to sell their product and a production company that wants to include dragons in their movie. I never know when he's going to drag me in on something."

Harry paused and took a deep breath. "Look, find me a way of attending a school part time that doesn't consume all my time and I'll willingly go to school. We're letting the first riders go off to university and I haven't the heart to tell them that they could be pulled from class if we have an emergency. Ever since we agreed to help the Red Cross and the Coast Guard we never know when we might get called out."

James clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. Harry was almost eighteen and every couple of months things seemed to pile up until he felt totally overwhelmed. "Harry, Harry," he said gently. "I understand. I actually hated the idea of telling you that university would be a bad idea for you."

Harry nodded unhappily, deep down he was a little resentful that everyone else could go to a school, but he seemed tied to the Weyr. He didn't mind doing his part, but sometimes it seemed like he was the only one that couldn't take advantage of what the Weyr offered.

He smiled when he saw Hermione showing her parents her results. She had taken her NEWT and also taken her muggle A level tests. Emma was initially surprised that Hermione wanted to go into law but Harry expected it. She had been helping Margret Sheppard for more than a year and was becoming very knowledgeable in many of the tougher legal issues confronting the Weyr. Emma had been certain that Hermione would choose a magical career and she would have been right had Harry not asked her to help Maggie Sheppard.

Not far from Hermione, May stood, talking excitedly on her mobile phone, undoubtedly telling her parents the good news. Michael and Rosie were very down to earth people that took Harry's relationship easier than the Grangers had. May attending university was a major source of pride for her parents as she would be the first of the McNulty clan to do so. Harry greatly enjoyed his visits to the elder McNulty's, especially after May's grandfather had finally checked himself into a clinic to help with his alcoholism. The man was a lot easier to get along with now that he was sober and Harry really hoped he'd remain sober for May's sake.

Harry turned and walked towards the exit. As he did, Luna looked up and watched him leave with narrowing eyes. She turned and walked over to Hermione and said something softly to the girl.

Hermione glanced over to where Harry had been and frowned when she didn't spot him. A moment later May joined her. May looked around and waved James over.

"James, where did Harry go?" she asked when he showed up.

James looked around with a slight frown, and then he shrugged. "He was here a moment ago. I asked him about his own schooling and he seemed a little unhappy with the reality of it."

"Reality? What reality?" asked May.

"May," James said gently. "Harry is too important to the Weyr to take time out to attend any school. He knows it and he's not happy about it. I've spoken with Prime Minister Blair about it and we have some ideas, but Harry is learning that sometimes a leader can't partake in the fruits of his efforts. He worked tirelessly to arrange schooling for everyone. What he didn't say was that several of the schools were originally less than thrilled about dragons on campus. He personally visited several schools to introduce them to dragons and convince them that dragons would not be a distraction to the campus."

"That doesn't seem fair," Hermione said unhappily.

James shrugged. "It isn't. But Harry is learning that a leader sometimes must work for improving the lives of his people even if he can't take advantage of the improvement for himself. I don't think it's a permanent situation. We are trying to arrange for his tutoring to be credited by a university, plus arrange for more tutoring. As much as I would like to see him attending a university with the rest of you, he's too important to the running of the Weyr and the dragons."

"He knew this was happening, that's why he didn't even bother with the NEWTs," Hermione said softly.

"Trath love, where is Harry?" May asked.

"_He and Chekiath left the Weyr. Shall I ask Chekiath where they are?"_

May glanced over at Hermione who shook her head. Both of the girls had an idea where Harry was. They would wait until he returned home before dealing with this.

"No, we'll wait until they come home," May replied.

James frowned. "Where is he?" he asked worriedly.

"Probably Disko Island. Sometimes when Harry needs some alone time he and Chekiath go to Disko, there's a spot along the crater rim where he can sit, sheltered from the wind, and just think," Hermione answered.

"He might have other spots he can go to but he always seems to end up there when he needs to think about something hard," May offered.

"Poor Harry," Emma murmured.

"Eh Poor Harry? Why would you say that?" asked a startled Hermione.

"Harry's worked so hard to see that the riders could have all kinds of opportunities. He told me when he asked for our blessing to court you that he wanted to make you proud of him, that he could be as smart as you," Dan said, answering for Emma.

Emma nodded in agreement. "He's very proud of both of you and he's said on several occasions that he hopes his children have their mother's intelligence. And he knows you weren't happy with his decision to skip his NEWTS dear."

"It was the right decision. Once I understood why he was ignoring his magical classes I even helped him learn the spells anyway," Hermione protested.

"Yes it was, but did you tell Harry that? Or you May?" prompted Dan gently.

Hermione's mouth snapped shut and she took a step backwards, she looked over at May who looked just as unhappy. "We need to talk to him when he gets back," Hermione said resolutely.

"Harry's been extremely proud of both you, lord knows he's bragged plenty about you both to us," Emma said. "I think the fact that he can't attend university like the rest of you is going to make him feel like he's failed the both of you."

Both girls knew there was a problem here. They both tended to emphasize grades as a major factor in their lives, even to the point of having a mild competition between them. Until his A levels Harry had his muggle grades which were very good, if not quite as good as the girls.

Five hours later Harry entered his quarters from Chekiath's door. He had missed dinner that night and the only comfort the girls could draw was that their dragons didn't appear to be upset or even worried.

Harry stepped inside with Chekiath and he turned to watch his dragon enter. He had enlarged the space enough that all three dragons could now sleep there. Because of that, the dragons basically shifted their beds almost daily depending upon the order in which they entered. And each bed was equipped with a place they could use as a bathroom at night that Dobby would empty each day. There were also three dragon reader/writers installed against the wall. Most dragons used them to read but a few, like Comaloth were writing their own stories.

Cheki saw his mates already occupying spaces so he curled up in front of the door. The other two looked up from their reading when Harry and Cheki entered.

"_You're late,"_ Comaloth said with a remarkably Hermione-like huff.

"_May and Hermione have been worried about you,"_ added Trath. _"I tried to tell them you were fine, but they were still worried."_

Comaloth looked pointedly at Chekiath. _"I wanted a shagging flight tonight. I nearly went to Garanoth, but I am your consort, I will not stoop so low."_

Harry and Chekiath shared an amused look between them. As the two female dragons became more accustomed to being Chekiath's consorts, they started develop a little attitude. Fortunately they only used it when they were alone. Harry privately thought the dragons used it to badger Cheki into paying more attention to them. Surprisingly both girls agreed with Harry in his assessment since neither dragon acted like that unless they were alone in their house and never did it in public.

"_Garanoth is a fine fellow, but that might upset Neruth. And I know Harry doesn't want to cover Karen,"_ Chekiath replied mildly, his eyes shining in amusement. _"But if it makes you feel better, I'll cover you twice tomorrow. Unless you want a flight now?"_

Comaloth glanced at a window and snorted slightly, causing a small waft of steam to rise from her nostrils. _"Tomorrow is fine, it is dark outside. Shagging flights in the dark can be troublesome."_

"_That is true, remember when Noborth hit that antenna thing near the smith hall? I thought the master smith was going to break his beak he got so __upset__,"_ Trath offered. _"I like to be able to see what I'm doing."_

Abbey Rhodes' dragon clipped an antenna tower at the science complex during a nighttime shagging flight causing thousands of pounds of damage in the process. It was only then that everyone learned that shagging took precedence over even the dragon's marvelous spatial abilities. Noborth never even knew she hit the tower she was otherwise occupied and received only minor injuries.

Surprisingly Major Atkins had watched the event with the antenna unfold and then she leaned over towards Sirius, "Now you know why it's a bad idea to grope me when I'm driving," she said quietly. Sirius nodded in understanding, he wouldn't try that again. Harry who had been standing nearby listened to Cheki relay her comment and he broke out in laughter. Within minutes half the Weyr was roaring in laughter at Katherine and a very embarrassed Hermione once again explained that the dragon's hearing is quite acute.

Harry chuckled and he reached up to rub behind one of Cheki's ears. "I'll let you figure out what you're doing," he said, then he turned to see both girls standing there looking at him hopefully.

He sighed to himself. They were going to have one of their 'talks'. He could tell just by their expressions.

"When you left the theater today you left so fast, it surprised us. We wanted to talk to you," May said.

Hermione nodded. "You've worked so hard for all of us Harry. And every day you get up to deal with things we barely understand."

Harry knew that wasn't quite accurate. Hermione had a firm grasp on some of the issues he had to deal with. But on a whole no one but Ronan and Cheki understood all of the things Harry had to do.

"Like those contract talks you had with the US Fish and Wildlife service. Who knew someone would pay for us to fly them around so they can count Caribou?" Hermione added.

Harry had been instrumental in setting up an agreement between the Wildlife service and the fledgling Condron Weyr to survey the Caribou and Elk populations in Alaska. When the survey was first conducted he even drafted several wings from Campbeltown to help fill out the survey teams.

Harry smirked. "And I think they were afraid to complain when Chekiath ate one," he added.

"_It was tasty, a bit gamey and different than cow or sheep,"_ Chekiath added from his bed.

"_I wanted to taste one, but Hermione didn't think it would be a good idea,"_ complained Comaloth.

Hermione ignored her dragon and smiled at Harry. She stepped forward close enough to touch him. "The point Harry is you work so hard for us."

"We know you're disappointed that you couldn't attend university Harry," May added softly. "But that doesn't matter to us. You have nothing to prove to us."

Hermione nodded. "You've proven yourself to the Weyr every day since you impressed. Some of us wouldn't be here if you hadn't saved our lives. Me, Michelle, Max to name just a few."

"Plus all of the dragons," May said.

Harry looked down at his feet, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"_They are right Harry, all of dragon-kind owe their existence to you,"_ Cheki added from his sand bed. _"You might not go to one of those schools, but we dragons know you don't need to. And don't forget Sheep Guy said he'd arrange something with the Lord Holder."_

He nodded. "I just wanted."

"We know," May said gently, interrupting him. "But we want you to know it doesn't matter. I know how smart you are, so does Hermione. And I think that if my children have their father's intelligence, I will be one proud mum."

Harry looked at her in surprise, and then he glanced over to Hermione who nodded and smiled at him. "Me too," she offered.

May took his hand. "Come to bed Harry, and don't worry about schools or grades. Things will work out."

He nodded quietly and allowed the two girls to lead him into their bedroom. He was puzzled, he was sure Hermione and May would have been angry at him for not attending university but they weren't. He was grateful for that fact but he didn't quite understand why they weren't angry when it seemed to both of them that school grades were so important. It was something he'd have to think about, and maybe talk to Dan Granger or James about it.

James and Dan were about the only male adults he trusted enough to have that kind of conversation. He loved Sirius and Remus, but neither would be able to talk without turning it into a joke.

**ICW Headquarters, Paris, France, December 1st 1998...**

Jochim Stebbins glanced down at his notes for this last session of the year and only one item remaining.

"Delegates, there remains but one final piece of business remaining before we close for the holidays. I have been informed by our British delegate that he wishes to raise an issue with the membership. He also informs me that he is currently leading a coalition of thirty member nations that wish to bring this information to our attention," he said, then he glanced towards the British booth. "I yield the floor to Delegate Weasley."

Arthur stood, and behind him Blaine Reading held a large poster carrier. The two men had spent months traveling and collecting evidence they hoped would help convince the delegates of the problem.

"Esteemed delegates, I and my colleagues stand before you today highly concerned about a situation which is growing daily and yet is beyond our ability to stop," Arthur said, then he turned and took the poster case from Reading and with a flick of his wand, sent the large images hurtling down to the center section of the hall, just before the Supreme Mugwump's seat.

Stebbins stood and walked around his desk to examine the photos, finally he turned back towards Arthur. "Delegate Weasley, I would like an explanation for these photographs. Clearly they show a number of buildings, but I fail to understand their importance."

Arthur nodded. "Mugwump, my friends, in our desire to preserve our way of life we have ignored the muggle world for far too long. Now we are faced with a situation of our own making. Those images, show Hogwarts, Durmstrang, the Salem Institute for Advanced Sorcery and the Pacific Wizard's school were created with muggle machines.

"Even as I speak to you here today, the muggles have machines that are searching out our hidden places and cataloging them. They have machines that we cannot hide from, or obliviate. Muggle military capabilities far exceed anything we can hope to counter, and they have the ability to destroy the world, including us. We know this, we have seen it in the past. This august body have talked about this before.

"Her Majesty's government has commanded the Ministry of Magic in Britain to develop a plan to reveal our world to the muggles. They have determined that our secret will be out in less than a century even as we try to hide deeper."

Arthur paused and looked around at the alarmed faces staring back at him, some in shock, some in anger and some in fear. "My esteemed predecessor Albus Dumbledore knew this was coming and had even started working on a plan to reveal our world and protect it at the same time."

"Can't we fight this?" whined the delegate from Egypt. The man was clearly frightened.

Arthur shrugged. "Whom would you fight sir? Do you know enough about muggle technology that you can guarantee removing all information about us from their people and their machines? Do you honestly expect to be able to fight your county's army with your handful of Aurors? Most ministries have less than five hundred Aurors and those countries that kept their defense force have a force of less than two thousand. Most muggle nations have armies that number many thousands of trained soldiers. They can overwhelm us by sheer numbers alone.

"Photographs like these are stored in ways that none of us would even recognize as a photograph and I have been told that some of these are literally stored on dozens of machines around the world, how we can understand these machines, let alone find and remove the photographs is a mystery to me."

The Egyptian delegate shook his head in dismay and shuddered in his seat. He had no reply to Arthur's questions.

Arthur gestured and Reading cast a small spell behind him. Elves started popping into the chamber delivering a copy of Arthur's report to every delegate. "Delegates, the information you are now receiving is a copy of our findings as well as an outline of what I and diverse others have planned to deal with this. I urge you each to read the documents carefully and then consult with your governments. Help your ministry understand the disaster that awaits us if we do nothing. We stand on a precipice and we know we have to jump. The question is do we allow ourselves to be forced to jump or shall we control how we do it?"

Arthur turned back to Stebbins and gave a short bow to the Mugwump, then he took his seat and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Stebbins glanced down at the thick folder in front of him for a moment before looking up. "Just a year ago we were faced with exposure of our world thanks to the conflict between Greece and Italy. Thankfully that conflict is behind us, but the underlying threat remains. Delegates, please review the material provided by Delegate Weasley, our next scheduled meeting isn't until February, we'll open the issue up for debate then."

Stebbins grabbed the large rock on his desk and rapped it three times against the desk. "This session of the International Confederation of Wizards is hereby closed. I wish each and everyone one of you a pleasant Yule celebration."

In the British booth Reading leaned forward in his chair. "I think that went rather well Arthur," he said softly.

"I hope so Blaine," Arthur muttered. "You know I always envied Albus Dumbledore for his abilities, but being a member of the ICW is perhaps one of the hardest things he had to do. Now I wish he were still here."

**Campbeltown Administration Building, Guest office, December 27****th**** 1998...**

Eddie Took looked up from the computer she shared with several others. The office had been set up to allow select guests access to the local network and email. She smiled at the middle aged man standing in the doorway. Father Tomas Pirello was a Roman Catholic priest and of the three clergy people that shared the office, he was also the only person that was openly friendly to her. To the other two clergymen that shared the office, she was an upstart pretender. Eddie portrayed herself as a Wiccan priestess, but in fact she represented a far older and more established sect than any of the clergy assigned to the Weyr.

The clergy had been invited to the Weyr and once Harry saw that some of them were spending considerable time here, he arranged for them to share an office and access to the newly dubbed dragon-net. The net linked Campbeltown, Condron and Sakushima together for the purposes of sharing data and email. And in Eddie's case it allowed her to answer questions that the riders and the dragons had without having to visit each Weyr.

As a healer that tried to keep up with mundane medical advances she had a passing familiarity with computers. She made extensive use of the email system to deal with distant riders and in some cases, dragons that had questions for her.

Eddie also visited each Weyr at least once a month. She was the only member of the clergy to do so, and she was often carried by Momnarth who told her it was an honor to carry her to the other Weyrs.

The Church of England representative showed up at the Weyr once and hadn't been seen since. Father Pirello and Eddie were frequent visitors, and Mohmar Achmed Birmas represented the Muslim faith even if he didn't mix well with the other clergy. He was a brusque individual who showed up once a week, spent a few hours walking around the Weyr and then he'd leave. He rarely talked to anyone even the dragons.

"Tomas! I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were on holiday in Sicily," Eddie said with a smile. She respected and liked the man, even if he was part of the competition.

Tomas shrugged. "It seems even the almighty cannot prevent an airline strike these days. With the planes in Italy grounded I decided to come in here to see how our friends are doing."

Eddie laughed and motioned for him to grab a cup of tea. She understood that Tomas had a particularly difficult job. The Vatican had yet to make a ruling about dragons, but they allowed Tomas, a Jesuit priest and a renowned anthropologist to come to the Weyr so he could prepare a report to the Holy See about dragons.

He was an easy going individual who didn't seem threatened by the fact that Eddie represented a competing faith. Because of the Vatican's reluctance to agree that dragons had souls, Eddie was the only clergy actively trying to convert riders and dragon alike.

"So have you had any luck with your superiors?" she asked.

Tomas sighed and shook his head. He sat down on a chair next to Eddie's desk. "I fear that my superiors are allowing their human prejudices to color their opinions. Some are interested, some are afraid and some are looking at dragons as the most exciting theological question to be put before the Holy Father since King Henry asked to divorce his wife. The issue of dragon souls confounds them and I fear they will demand substantiative proof before deciding. How about you?"

Eddie smiled at the man; she genuinely liked him and wished he was a little more receptive to the world around him. It saddened her to know that the dragons could see the spirits that were meant to guide him, but she also knew he had no idea they were there and didn't know how to listen to them.

She reached for her tea and sipped for a moment. "As you know we have no hierarchy like you do. I apprenticed under three arch priests for my right to be listed on the rolls of the clergy. Other than that, there are no restrictions and no organization binding me. As a result I have been teaching our ways openly. I have heard from various arch priests around the world and they all express excitement and a touch of envy that I'm here and not them.

"It would not surprise me if I manage to convert the Weyrleader and others here. Many have shown a great deal of interest despite their backgrounds."

Tomas frowned and then sighed again and smiled at Eddie ruefully. He knew that Eddie was in the Weyr at the personal invitation of the Weyrleader. "In that I envy you Eddie. You don't have to follow orders. Just your heart."

"And what does your heart tell you Tomas?" she asked gently.

"That the dragons are people like the Weyrleader has been saying all along. They love, they laugh, they can be every bit as serious or as whimsical as any of us. That they worry about God and their place in the universe says to me that they are worthy of the Lord's love and salvation. I fear that this is one time his church will lose because of the narrow minded men at the helm. I would warn my superiors of how close they are to losing a unique opportunity, but I can't."

Eddie looked at him with interest. "Oh? Why can't you tell them?"

Tomas stood from his chair and walked over to the pot of tea and poured himself a cup. He took a sip, and then turned to face her. "I'm afraid that you can offer things that my superiors are unwilling to offer," he said slowly. He moved to sit down again and he leaned forward, clutching his cup tightly in both hands. "I am a scientist Eddie, a trained anthropologist who is a recognized expert in the area of primitive societies and what happens to them when they come in contact with the modern world. I'm trained to observe and that's part of what I do. It's an integral part of me."

"And what have you observed?" Eddie asked, intrigued now.

He looked up from his cup. "There are things happening in this... this Weyr which defy rational explanation. And while no one has come out and said it directly I know there are some very unconventional relationships happening here. My superiors would never accept or condone relationships that involve one woman and two men, and yet there are two of them if I've observed rightly. And there are six relationships involving two women and one man."

He paused and looked at her intently. "And I know for a fact that your group tries to hide under the banner of New Age Wicca, but your beliefs really suggest a far older theology that predates even my own church."

Eddie smiled and said nothing.

Tomas watched her for a moment, marveling at her ability to give nothing away, and then he snorted in amusement. He pointed a finger at her. "You are going to win this round my dear," he said jovially. "My hands are tied by narrow minded men that would prefer to sit, ponder and debate what it all means rather than actually do something. Oh I know I could tell them that they are about to lose a unique opportunity to what they consider as an unruly and unwelcome upstart but they wouldn't listen to me until it was too late. The truth is that while they are willing to debate, they are unwilling to act.

"You will win because the dragons need what you can offer that I can't. Acceptance. Plus your beliefs allow for multiple relationships. You are closer than you think to converting the Weyrleader, his wives are the real reason he hasn't yet committed. May and Hermione have their faith and Harry isn't part of either. He seems woefully ignorant about any of the mainstream religions in Britain and that suggests he was never exposed to them while growing up."

Eddie arched an eyebrow at Tomas' oratory. "Wives?" she pressed.

Tomas shrugged. "What else would you call them? I have spoken at length to the dragons and they have told me about the dragon bond and how it can influence the riders. Both girls openly wear a ring given to them by the Weyrleader and they all live in the same house. Surely you don't expect me to believe they have separate bedrooms?"

Eddie nodded, acknowledging the point. "If you're so convinced then why?"

"Why am I still trying? Why am I still here?" he said, overriding her.

She nodded again.

He grinned. "Well for one, I have been ordered to investigate dragon-kind by the Vatican. And for two I find the dragons refreshing. People are the same everywhere. I have traveled in some of the remotest parts of the world and found that people rarely change. Even among the primitive tribes you'll find people lie, they steal, they cheat on each other.

"Dragons truly are different. It's refreshing. Every rider that I've asked have said dragons are incapable of lying. Do you know just how different that is from mankind? I have personally witnessed the effect that they have on their riders. I watched one couple have a disagreement where no one raised a voice, there was no violence, it was just point and counter point until one finally agreed that the other had a better argument. That was the dragon bond at work. Just think, the dragons can't lie and it seems like they can influence their riders to do the same. How can we Catholics hold confession when the Riders don't have any minor little sins to confess? We thrive on confession and the guilt that stems from it."

He paused and Eddie chuckled lightly. She knew he was overstating the case, but it was true that dragons seemed to be incapable of lying and they were affecting their riders.

"And finally," he said, holding up three fingers, "Point three, I can be content that the dragons and their riders are interested in a gentle loving catechism that has polished away it's brutality a long time ago.

Tomas sighed and shook his head ruefully, "I wish I could say the same for Christianity, but we still have a long way to go. I remain in a constant state of astonishment that a creed that preaches love and tolerance can breed people that see nothing wrong with committing murder in the name of their religion."

Eddie leaned forward in her chair and pat Tomas on the hand. "Thank you," she replied. "For being so honest with me and with yourself. Tell me Tomas, how hard is it to reconcile your scientific training with your faith?"

Tomas' expression grew serious. "I wish I could say it was easy but it isn't. I have had my crisis of faith in my younger days and I nearly left the order because of it. My faith is stronger now even if it doesn't exactly match church doctrine."

He grinned and nodded to her. "Of course, that is something I would never admit to the cardinals."

Eddie smiled at that, "Do you believe there are things in this world which cannot be explained?"

"I believe there are things which have yet to be explained," he replied cautiously. It was an answer tempered by a scientific education. "Perhaps someday all of the questions will be answered save one. Why? Science can tell us how, but rarely can it tell us why."

She smiled at his reserved answer, and then she reached into her drawer and plucked out a small stone attached to a leather strap. She handed him the stone and he looked at it in confusion.

"This is a calming stone," she said softly. "Often when the mind is troubled it helps to hold the stone and concentrate your thoughts on just the stone. It's a meditation aid, but I think you will be very surprised at what you'll learn about the world and yourself."

Tomas looked again at the stone, it was highly polished and very reflective, but he could see it was just a simple quartz crystal. "So I just meditate while holding this stone?"

"Not quite Tomas, hold the stone in the palm of your hand and close your eyes," Eddie said. "Just think about the stone in your hand. Think about it as a way of touching the world in new ways. Take slow, deep breaths and concentrate on using the stone to see the world around you."

Eddie watched her friend slip into a meditative trance. She knew he could, it was part of his training to learn to meditate. The difference was the inclusion of the stone. It wasn't magical, but by using it as a focus she hoped he'd be able to reach beyond his own perception of the world.

She turned back to her work and continued working on the letter she had been writing. When it was finally done, about thirty minutes later she put down her pen and touched Tomas on his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her in wonder. "What was that?" he asked breathlessly.

She smiled. "That was the world my friend. Sometimes all it takes is a gentle nudge to alter one's perceptions of the world. That's what I did. I helped you see what you already saw, but in a new way."

Tomas nodded slowly, and then he looked down at the stone in his hands.

"Keep it Tomas. I have more," she said gently.

He had meditated while holding the stone, and everything seemed normal until he imagined himself looking at the world through the stone, then things seemed to alter. His friend had a glow around her, and there were other people in the room, but they were alone! Somehow he was certain he had witnessed a truth that he didn't understand yet.

"I... I think I'll go walk around the Weyr, who knows, maybe I'll find a dragon that wants to convert," he said halfheartedly.

Eddie smiled; she knew he wanted to go off to think about what he had experienced. She watched him walk from the office and started to go back to her paperwork when she paused. She could feel the touch and approval. She reached with her magical senses and felt her spirit guides were pleased. Tomas would never be of her faith, but she had started him down a path that just may someday allow him to reach out to his own guides.

**ICW Headquarters, Paris France, February 1999...**

Arthur and Blaine Reading slipped into the British booth in the chamber and sat quietly waiting for the session to begin. The member delegates has taken the report home with them over the holiday and hopefully had presented it to the individual Ministers.

For both men, the time between the last ICW meeting and this one had been a hectic whirlwind of international travel as they visited countries trying to drum up additional support. To his great dismay Arthur only managed to squeeze in three days with his family over the holiday.

"Almost showtime Arthur," Blaine said quietly.

_He was a strange wizard, but very competent,_ thought Arthur. Young by Arthur's standards, Blaine Reading was a wizard who was working on a muggle doctorate degree in sociology. Arthur was comfortable enough in his own abilities to know that Blaine had been invaluable in the effort to bring the Dumbledore plan to the ICW.

A chime sounded in the chamber and delegates scrambled into their boxes. A half minute later a small door down on the bottom floor opened and Jochim Stebbins stepped out. Stebbins climbed into the high chair behind his desk and sharply rapped his desk with the enchanted rock that always sat on his desk.

"I call this meeting to order," he said in a soft voice. He knew that the enchantments on his desk allowed his voice to be heard easily in every delegate box.

"Supreme Mugwump!" shouted one voice.

Stebbins noted the box that had the lit rune and he suppressed a scowl. It was the Russian box. "Delegate Danakov, you have something you wish to say?"

Sergei Danakov stood slowly and nodded to Stebbins. "I do Mugwump. I know that the first order of business for this meeting is the ridiculous proposal put forth by the British and American delegates. The countries that are agreeing to go along with this, this so called Dumbledore plan, are deliberately playing with fire and intend to expose our world to the muggles.

"My Ministry is one hundred percent against this dangerous endeavor and we strongly urge this body to vote this proposal down. My Minister has instructed me to call for an interdict against all nations joining in this plan since they obviously do not care for the well being of the wizarding world. It is for the greater good of all wizard kind that we do not allow this measure to pass."

Danakov sat with a satisfied smile on his face. Around him the chamber erupted in noisy debate as proponents argued with those that were in favor of Danakov's proposal. Danakov knew that many Delegates personally opposed the plan, but had been ordered to vote for it by their government.

Arthur stood and signaled to Stebbins that he wished to speak. The Mugwump signaled to the Hit Wizard in his control booth and a silence fell upon the chamber as he invoked the silencing runes in each box.

"Delegate Weasley, as this is a British proposal do you wish to rebut Delegate Danakov?" asked Stebbins. It was impossible to miss the hope in his voice.

Arthur placed both hands on the box railing and leaned slightly forward. "Delegates and honored guests, Delegate Danakov raises a point that I find shocking. The very first page of the documentation we supplied outlined the plan in broad terms, including the fact that we cannot continue to hide for much longer. That my esteemed Russian friend seems to think this was a secret and cause for alarm is a surprise to me. The very intent of the plan is to reveal our world under controlled circumstances.

"If you want to be alarmed, then be alarmed over the fact that our world cannot remain hidden for much longer. If we do not start now, working in conjunction with the muggle governments, who can control what information reaches their people, our world will be exposed in an uncontrolled and most certainly violent manner."

Arthur paused and took a deep breath. "One of the fundamental foundations of the ICW is that they have no jurisdiction within a country's borders unless that country puts the entire world at risk. Our plan is designed to minimize that risk and since we last met, over ninety other nations have agreed in principle to support our proposal. This is no longer just a British plan. No my friends, this is a Wizarding plan to save our world."

A large swelling of sound washed through the chamber as the delegates realized that Weasley had over one hundred of the one hundred and ninety six members agreeing to join with them. Weasley had a majority, but it was a slight one.

Arthur turned to Danakov who was scowling heavily at him. "The British people have no wish to tell you how to run your own country Delegate Danakov. If you wish you can continue as you have been and in the end your non-magical people will learn about our world from non-Russian sources. By our estimates there is less than a century before our world becomes common knowledge and I've seen some studies that suggest fifty years as being more likely. You can use that time to hide yourselves deeply and pray that your fellow Russians can't find you, or you can work with your government to ease into it. It is your choice."

Danakov shot to his feet. "You claim you have no wish to dictate but here you are setting terms! We are a sovereign nation and will not bow to your wishes or to the wishes of the lower species!"

Stebbins gestured and the Russian box runes flared again, silencing the man.

"Friends," Stebbins said, "Perhaps it would be best if we discuss this plan in detail and I will remind you all that I will not allow this to degenerate into a shouting match."

Stebbins glared at Danakov who reluctantly nodded, then sat back in his chair. Satisfied, he turned to the British box. Arthur bowed slightly and took his seat.

"I think that we should first hear from someone that has questions about the Dumbledore Plan," Stebbins said, hoping one of the uncommitted countries would step up.

The delegate from Sumatra stood and Stebbins nodded towards the man. As he leaned back in his seat to listen he would have been shocked to know that a lot of the delegates had the same thought.

_This is going to be a long session,_ they thought. And they would be right, it would take a further eighteen hours before a vote was held approving the plan, seventy two percent for, twenty eight percent against.

**Science Building 15, Weyr Research Complex, Campbeltown, April 14****th**** 1999...**

Sir Robert closed the file on his computer and leaned against the back of his chair. He was beyond tired. He had told Prime Minister Blair that he would be resigning as Scientific Adviser at the end of this year and this time he meant it.

There were a number of bright, younger men that could slip into his role as adviser to the government. He even provided the Minister with a list of names of people who he thought could fill his role. He would remain as an adviser to the Weyr for a while longer, but even now he was looking forward to retiring.

His computer beeped, signaling the file save was complete. Satisfied he snapped off his desk lamp and picked up his brief case.

Exiting his office he paused when he heard the loud voices.

"It's just not possible to make it as a single piece, the interface has to be made separately," exclaimed a voice in dismay.

"We have to make sure the seal between the two halves is perfect. Do you know how hard that is?"

Frowning he turned towards the room where he heard the voices and opened the door.

Ronan Clark and Wayne Hopkins looked up from the drawing board they were leaning against. Both were surprised to see the old man was still in the building, they had thought they were alone. "Sir Robert, I'm sorry, did we disturb you?"

Sir Robert smiled. "Not at all my boy, but when I heard you talking, it piqued my interest. What are you two working on so diligently at ten o'clock at night?"

Wayne leaned back from the drafting table and tossed a pencil onto the table. "It's this mechanical drawing class. We're supposed to work on a project together. Most of our fellow students are working on some sort of automotive product, but Wayne and I thought it would be useful to design a container that could protect an egg from the cold of Between."

Sir Robert blinked in surprise then he nodded approvingly. "Marvelous, simply marvelous. Simple in intent, but sufficiently challenging," he said, and then he stepped forward to examine the drawing. The design was a simple metal egg with a foam cushion interior that would conform to the shape of the egg. Since eggs tended to be irregular in shape, they needed to cushion to hold the egg in place and protect it from the metal egg shaped exterior.

He bent over the drawing examining it in detail. There were two rough sketches nearby showing how the two halves connected, one was a simple clasp connection while the other was an elaborate interlocking and overlapping seal. "I take it that you are concerned about the cold leaking in between the top and bottom halves?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Ronan replied, "you know eggs taken Between have a high chance of failing to hatch. Wayne and I are worried that even a small amount of cold could cause problems. We don't know how much cold it takes to damage an egg. Wayne thinks it can survive a small amount and I'm thinking we shouldn't even allow that."

Sir Robert nodded approvingly. "Excellent. You will make a fine engineer someday Ronan, the tendency to over-design in compensation is admirable."

Wayne looked down and Sir Robert caught his glance. Wayne was following a study course that was geared towards basic biology rather than engineering, but both boys enjoyed constructing things and opted to take this elective course together. "On the other hand, let us look at the physics involved for a moment. The interface between your two halves seems to contain the same foam material as the interior foam. I know this material, it's a poor conductor of heat and cold. I daresay it would take many minutes of exposure to the cold of Between before it would seep into where it could affect an egg. A simple clasp connection would be quick to use and safe for most journey's between."

Wayne looked up at Ronan with a look of triumph on his face, but then Sir Robert added a cautionary note. "Mind you, this design is predicated on known conditions. You would be unable to transport an egg in this design through an environment like outer space. Ronan's design with the interlocking lips and rubber coatings may be more suitable for a harsher environment like the vacuum of space."

Both boys shared a resigned look, they had been arguing about something in which they were both right, depending upon the conditions they needed to face.

Sir Robert laughed softly. "Boys, this is nothing to be unhappy about. You have a design that is sure to give you a good grade and with your permission I'd like to pass a copy of this to one of our people to finalize. We could have saved more eggs from Nevado del Huila had we had this then."

Ronan nodded. "That's what made me try this Sir Robert. We lost more than fifty percent of the eggs evacuating that Weyr. If only we had a way of protecting them."

When the volcano ward on triggered for that Weyr, it did so with very little warning. In fact Harry and Campbeltown had just arrived to discuss the move to Romeral Weyr when the volcano exploded. In the rush to move the Weyr some twenty eggs were taken Between. Only eight of the twenty eggs survived to hatching. The riders were appalled by the loss of so many eggs.

A protective casing still wouldn't have helped in that case since they didn't have time to load the eggs into the casings. If they had had more warning it would have been a simple matter of straight flying out of the danger zone, and then landing to put the eggs into the casing before taking them Between.

"It's a good idea boys, well done," Sir Robert said into the gloomy silence that had descended upon them.

Both Ronan and Wayne smiled at the compliment. Sir Robert was in their mind the penultimate scientist, cool and objective and yet passionate about all science. He didn't realize it, but a lot of the riders looked up to him as a role model.

**Weyrleaders Meeting, Hangar Two, Campbeltown Weyr, May 1****st****, 1999...**

Yuko Isikara paced in front of the table nervously. "With your permission of course, but we'd really like to start working with the JDF on rescue..."

The Weyrleader of Sakushima Weyr trailed off when Harry shook his head. "Yuko you do not need to ask my permission, or for that matter, even ask the leaders council for permission. I know you're still getting used to the idea of leading the Weyr but it is your Weyr," Harry said. "None of us would dream of interfering unless dragons and riders were being put at risk."

Lobsang nodded next to Harry. "Indeed, in a way I envy you. The People's Liberation Army would try to exploit us which is why we do not make the same offer."

Yuko Isikara was new to the post. The original Weyrleader for Sakushima had been killed in an automobile accident, causing his dragon to jump Between.

The loss of a rider and a dragon was a major blow to the Weyrs, especially since Kato Jinku had been Weyrleader for nearly a full year and he had been exceeding Harry's expectations. The accident was one of those senseless things that highlight how fragile life is. Kato had entered a cafe to meet with his girlfriend when a truck plowed into the building killing Kato and his girlfriend instantly.

Nearby and in full view of the public, Kato's dragon, Frafeth, bellowed in anguish and leapt into the air, vanishing just a moment later. Frafeth's public suicide deeply touched the Japanese people. It reflected their own ancient values of Bushido in a way. Suicide based on loyalty was not an unknown subject to the Japanese nation even if modern Japan looked down on such things. The dragons were highly popular before the accident, but afterward they achieved a status that placed them just below the royalty.

Half a world away Campbeltown tumbled from their beds as the dragons woke in mourning. Ordinarily they didn't mourn dragons that weren't part of their Weyr, but a Weyrleader's dragon was special. Within an hour Campbeltown, Condron, Maziang and Svartvatn Weyrs and leaders descended upon the stricken Sakushima Weyr.

The dragons and riders were devastated by the loss and the older non-bonded dragons weren't in any better shape. Harry called in elves from Campbeltown to help provide meals while the council of Weyrleaders took over the Weyr temporarily and helped the riders deal with the loss.

The incident shocked the world as it distinctly highlighted the strength of the Human/Dragon bond. Japan was especially hard hit causing Harry to remain at Sakushima for two weeks while a memorial service was held and the Weyrleaders conferred among themselves over finding a replacement Weyrleader.

In the short time from its opening to the present, the dragons had wormed their way into the hearts of the Japanese and especially among the Japanese children. In little less than a year Japan had seen the creation of three different Anime cartoons based on dragons and their riders.

The Weyr was literally buried with flowers and requests for people to visit and pay their respects to Kato and Frafeth. In an unprecedented event the Emperor and Empress came to the Weyr to lay flowers and incense at the small shrine built by the riders.

And that brought them to today with Yuko Isikara, the new Weyrleader of Sakushima. He had been a wing leader at the time and his name hadn't been mentioned when the dragons were considering who would be Weyrleader. Harry questioned Bonth extensively about the choice but he was relieved to know that the dragons had felt the year of being a rider had matured Isikara. The dragons had confidence in him and that was good enough to satisfy Harry.

Harry nodded to Lobsang. He was aware of the issues facing the Tibetan Weyrleader, then he turned back to Isikara. "I think if you contact the local representatives of the Red Cross they will leap at the chance to accept your help. You can also turn to them for courses on basic and advanced first aid as well as training in disaster responses."

Harry glanced down at his notes, then he reached for some papers. "Another issue and one that should be considered good news by all, the Weyr has reached an agreement with both a Japanese and a Scandinavian company to license the power plant design. Both companies have been contracted to build plants to replace existing ones. Plans are in the works to break ground within the next four months."

Harry looked up with a broad smile, "And next month Campbeltown will be attending the first power station opening Denmark. I know they started later than the British, but there were several nasty legal battles that delayed the British efforts. I have promised at least one Wing to be present when the power company holds their opening ceremony."

Harry looked intently at his Weyrleaders. "I think it would be to our benefit if we can be at these plant openings for the next couple of years. We need to drive home the relationship between dragon-kind and these power plants."

Everyone grinned in agreement with Harry. The first of the power stations going on-line would mean a shift in how the dragons would be perceived by many. The Weyrs had been fighting against the impression that the Weyrs had little to offer humanity. Dragon powered power stations replacing aging nuclear reactors would go a long way to dispelling that image.

"I do have one piece of good news to add," Kat offered.

Harry turned to Kat Mathews, an American witch and co-Weyrleader for Condron Weyr. "Do share please," he replied.

"Jasper Brady was approached by a company in the US that specialized in camping and survival gear. We've signed a contract to supply small heated stones for a line of camp stoves and space heaters. The company called Coleman, seems to think they can market the stoves and people will snap them up since they can do away with carrying fuel for them.

"I was skeptical of the idea at first, but Jasper tells me that we're dealing with a one hundred million dollar a year camping gear industry just in the US alone."

Harry nodded and made a note to talk to Karen about a similar arrangement. Kat Mathews might be a witch, but she was quickly becoming Condron's business manager. She seemed to have a nose for sniffing out business opportunities. She also managed to settle her differences with Skip Taylor and last Harry had heard they were seriously dating.

"Excellent, thank you Kat."

Harry glanced down at his notes, then he looked up. "I have a note here from Hagrid and May concerning the Weyrhealer classes," he said, then he frowned slightly. "They say that they will be able to accommodate forty people to attend the planned autopsy of Dracth from Cheeseman Weyr."

He looked up to see the unhappy expressions all around and he sighed. "I know it's distasteful. I hate it and every fiber in my body screams out against it. But when your dragon gets sick and Hagrid is able to save your dragon you will thank Dracth for his willingness to help our healers."

"Harry it's just that..."

"I know Skip," Harry replied, overriding him. "I don't like it any more than you do. I like it even less because May is involved, but as uncomfortable as this is, it's necessary if we are to learn enough to save our dragons when they get sick. You all know about Practh, he would have died had it not been for what May learned from these autopsies. You've seen the numbers, each month we lose a dozen or more dragons among the non-bonded. I refuse to believe that all of them were fatally ill, if only we knew more about our friends we'd be able to help them. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of losing dragons. If we can prevent it, we will."

The other Weyrleaders nodded, albeit with reluctance. Harry didn't realize it, but he had just set a policy decision for all the Weyrs. Each Weyrleader understood the need for it, but as a dragon rider the idea of someone cutting up a dragon, even a dead one, made them very uneasy. Just getting to the point of a dragon passing on without going Between was difficult enough. Lots of dragons attempted it, but only a handful succeeded.

When Spath passed away he had prevented himself from jumping Between, offering up his body for study. Spath had set an example for all dragons everywhere, but it was an extremely hard instinct to overcome. They were getting bodies to study from all over the world, but it was slow going with perhaps one body being available every other month. The only plus that Harry could see was that those studies were resulting in valuable knowledge and life saving techniques.

Practh was a dragon from Indonesia who had contracted a rare infection of his wing sails, causing them to rot away. It was terribly painful for the dragon. He had been brought to Campbeltown in a sling. May, with the help of several of her professors had struggled for nearly a week to fight the infection off. When that failed they opted to do something very radical, May cut out two major sections of wing sail in order to prevent the infection from spreading.

Practh was shattered and only an order from Chekiath prevented the Chinese fireball from jumping Between. May and her father put their heads together at that point and found a strong polymer material that they were able to stitch into place, replacing the missing sail area. The wing sail area was mostly skin and some blood vessels, so removing a piece and patching it with a thick polymer sheet that was sewn to the surrounding sail was easy.

Although that operation would go down in the Guinness book of records for the greatest number of stitches, topping in at over seven thousand. I had taken ten Weyrhealers eighteen hours of working in shifts to get just one patch in place.

Practh would fly again, even if he couldn't fly as well as before. And on the upside a biopsy performed on the material cut away from the wing allowed a consulting pathologist to identify the culprit. A jungle fungus that had managed to get into the wing membrane through a small nick or tear. Future cases might respond to an anti-fungal treatment, saving the partial sailectomy as a final resort.

"Getting back on topic, have your people email May so she can make the necessary arrangements. May says this will take a week. So plan carefully. The entire procedure will be videotaped and I'm told it will be broadcast live on our dragon net. This way your primary healers can participate without leaving the Weyr. We'll house any people that you send since it's going to be done here at our science complex."

Harry looked up from his notes. "Does anyone have anything for me?"

"Jasper says the final report on the dragon's should be made available next week," Skip offered. "We should get an advance copy but there are no surprises in it. NASA is excited by the fact that dragons can withstand the cold of space, and the vacuum, they have even offered to outfit some riders in suits."

Harry held up his hand and Skip trailed off. "It's a good idea Skip, but there are too many dangers in that to jump in without careful consideration. I'm willing to consider it further, but I think we should look at it very carefully. There's a reason why people get sent into space in space ships and not strapped to the outside of a rocket. A rider would be effectively strapped to the outside of the rocket."

Several chuckled, but they all saw the sense of what Harry was saying. It was one thing to know that your dragon could easily handle up to thirty minutes in space without breathing, but what good was that if the only protection for the rider was a flimsy suit.

"Right, stall them," Skip muttered, then he made a notation in his own book and looked at Harry. "I'll suggest to Jasper that NASA look at it further and mention that you're concerned about rider safety. I'm sure they have a think tank somewhere that can consider these issues."

Harry nodded and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not against the idea. Lord Mills even mentioned to me the idea of dragons being able to place satellites in orbit. Right now it's just an idea, and it's a dangerous one. I'm not saying we won't do it, I'm saying that we won't do it as its been presented."

Harry looked around carefully, and then he pulled out his wand and cast a privacy charm. The wizards among them raised an eyebrow at his actions. "You all know my second, Ronan Clark? He expressed an interest in studying this field for us. He and I have sat over many a cup of tea in the evening talking about just this topic. If you listen to him there are countless worlds out there to explore, including worlds that men could travel to and live on."

Skip nodded. "There are, although there are none to be found in our solar system."

Harry nodded. "I've given this some thought and I think that space is something we need to be extremely cautious about. Ronan has my permission to work on this for us once he's done with school. If you have any riders with similar interests, encourage them to talk to Ronan, but tell them to keep it as a Weyr secret. Let Ronan organize this as a private Weyr effort. Karen is already setting up a fund to help with the effort and Ronan has plans to put together a design group that would act as a cover for their real purpose."

A hush settled on the Weyrleaders and Kat Mathews leaned forward in her seat. A Weyr secret was something that could only be discussed with other riders. No outsiders were to know of it. "A Weyr secret Harry? Why?"

Harry shrugged. "Honestly Kat I'm not entirely sure so I'm being cautious. If Ronan is to be believed and I have no reason not to, space could offer more to humanity than even our hot rocks. Hot Rocks and their uses are our ticket to being accepted by society. What will space be? I don't know, but I do know that unlike hot rocks, we'll control our own involvement. If we get involved in any sort of outer space ventures, it will be of our own doing and entirely under our own control."

Harry glanced around. "Is that it?"

When everyone nodded, he dropped the privacy charm, and then he turned to Hermione who had been sitting quietly in the corner, recording the meeting. "Hermione, make sure everyone gets a copy of this meeting with an appropriate security stamp. Since we're done with this portion I'll open the meeting now."

Hermione nodded and placed a fresh sheet under her dicta-quill. She took the notes she already had and placed them in a briefcase that only she and Harry could open. Later Hermione would type up the notes and send out email copies in a couple days.

"Norendrath is there anyone wanting to speak with us?" Harry asked.

"_Smelly Dog says that Sheep Guy and the Master Smith want to talk to you. Smelly Dog also says that Sheep Guy seems annoyed that the Weyrleaders are meeting in private."_

Harry grimaced and nodded. "Very well, tell Sirius that it's alright to let them in now."

A minute later the door to the conference room opened and Sir Robert and Lord Mills entered. Sir Robert seemed unconcerned about the delay and as usual, seemed excited about something. James on the other hand seemed unhappy that Harry had decided to hold a closed door meeting that he wasn't invited to.

Harry looked up and smiled. "Gentlemen, good morning."

James stopped and looked a little confused by Harry's greeting. Meanwhile Sir Robert plowed on. "Harry my boy, look look!" he said excitedly, waving some blueprints around.

Harry leaned back in his chair and smiled. "What have you got there Sir Robert?"

Sir Robert blinked and looked a bit surprised as if he were unaware of anyone being in the room, then he spotted Harry. "Oh Harry! It's marvelous. Our friends at British Railways dug through their engineering archives and they managed to locate the blueprints for the 'Evening Star', the last steam locomotive engine built in Britain back in 1960.

"They farmed out the design to an engineering company to replace the firebox with a hot rocks source and update the rest of the design. These are the finished designs updated with today's technology. It will look like an old fashioned steam engine, but its fully modernized to be lighter and more efficient. British Railways is debating whether or not to proceed, but still, it's a wonderful thing. I remember steam trains..."

The old man trailed off and the others smiled at his excitement.

Harry leaned forward and made a quick notation in his book. "If we can help convince British Railways, we'd be happy to help. Powering their electric grid has got to expensive."

Sir Robert nodded. "It is my boy, it is. Even if they don't use this design they may still start using our smaller power stations. I'll talk to Lee about this?"

Harry nodded. "Please do. Lee can coordinate whatever you need Sir Robert."

Lee Jordan was head of the public affairs office for the Weyr and occasional spokesperson although that job was given to Mariah. Lee was also the person to see if you needed dragon resources for some event outside of the Weyr. Harry expected that at some point British Railways would want to talk to the Weyr about hot rock production and Lee as the PAO would the first person they would contact.

Harry turned his attention to James. "James, I apologize for keeping you out of our meeting. But honestly, can you tell me about every conversation you've had with the Prime Minister?"

James frowned and sat down in an empty chair. "No lad, some of them were classified."

Harry nodded. "I know James and I have trusted you despite that," he replied, and then he waved to the other riders present. "We're doing something new in our existence James. Look around you and you'll see people whose names will be remembered alongside Washington, Jefferson, Wellington and Churchill. Lobsang, Taylor, Mathews, Gustavson and Isikara are just the first.

"The first Weyrleaders and their riders are building a nation. Quite a lot of that, most of it in fact, will be done with your help and willing support. But just as your nation requires you to keep secrets, somethings we discuss need to be kept within the Weyr."

"Don't forget Potter," growled Hermione from her seat. Harry glanced over and gave her a soft smile, and then he turned his attention back to James.

James ran a hand through his hair, then he turned to look sourly at Sir Robert who was chortling merrily at him. "I warned you," Sir Robert said. "I told you this would happen once we started teaching him diplomacy and politics."

James nodded sourly. "You did, but I didn't think it would happen this soon," he said with a grunt, then he shook from his mood. "I'm sorry Harry, but you are correct. The Weyr is entitled to its secrets. They are a necessary evil of statecraft.

"And Hermione is right, Potter is the name that will lead that list," he said, and then he paused and took a breath. "Anyway I wanted to give you an update on our first power plant. The last legal battle cleared the courts yesterday and they are ready to begin testing. The official schedule is for the plant to go on-line in three months. I've been asked by Minister Blair to tender an invitation to the Weyr for the opening ceremonies. Her Majesty is also expected to attend."

Harry nodded and made a notation in his book. "The Weyr would be honored and proud to attend my Lord," he replied formally, then he relaxed somewhat and said in a teasing tone, "But the Danes still beat you to it."

James nodded ruefully. "Yeah they did. They were fortunate that they were able to avoid several court battles but better late than never. Honestly I never expected an attempt to prevent the plant from coming on-line after it was built."

Both plants had been started around the same time, but there had been two minor suits that delayed the British by a few months. The last suit came as a surprise just months before the plant was due to begin testing before connecting to the grid. The outfit bringing the suit was supposedly an environmental group, but investigation had revealed they had backing from several oil companies. Needless to say, once that fact came to light the suit lost a great deal of credibility.

The Weyr was pleased to discover that neither British Petroleum nor Exxon were behind the suits. Both companies had partnered together to build the heat transfer chambers that each power station would require.

The lawsuits had resulted in delays resulting in Britain being beaten by the Danes.

Harry grinned and the others chuckled, they all knew that the British had hoped to lead the way with the dragon powered power stations. There had been some gentle competition between the two companies building the plants that the Weyr and the press had focused on.

James smiled along with the others, he was glad that Harry was willing to talk to him, but he would still have to report that the Weyr was keeping secrets to the minister.

Later that evening Harry crawled into bed with a scowl. This was the fifth night in a row where May was spending the night down in London rather than coming home. Hermione spotted his expression and she sighed to herself. She missed May as well, but she knew Harry would miss her deeply. May and Hermione were like sisters now and it bothered her that May would be away so often of late.

"I'm sure she's missing you too Harry. I know I would be if I were her," Hermione offered.

He looked at her with a hopeful expression. "Do you think so? I don't like her being away from us."

She nodded and moved closer to him. They were a family and without May both felt like something was missing. "I do. I also miss our nighttime talks between the three of us. It's just that she's working so hard on that project of hers."

She didn't want to mention that she had a similar school related project that could consume most of her free time, but she refused to let anything interfere with her evenings with Harry. Her mum had told her that no matter how driven she had been in university, she never let it get in the way of her relationship with her father. If there was one woman in the entire world that Hermione admired, it was her mother and she took that advice to heart.

Harry nodded and sighed for a moment, and then he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter than usual. Hermione didn't need to be a mind reader to know what was bothering him. She made a mental note to herself to call May tomorrow and arrange for them to talk, and then she smiled wickedly in the darkness. _Since May isn't here, I might as well make good use of having the bed to just the two of us,_ she thought, then she lifted herself slightly and slid her body over on top of Harry, kissing him deeply.

Harry was initially surprised, then he enthusiastically returned her kisses.

**Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, May 25th, 1999...**

May paused and held the door open for Hermione who had a armload of books. The two girls were even closer now, thanks to Hermione pulling May aside and explaining exactly what her absence was doing to their relationship. It had been a sobering experience for the young blond woman, and one she vowed not to repeat.

Hermione entered and placed the books down on a nearby desk with a sigh of relief. Since they were her muggle textbooks she didn't dare cast a featherlight charm on them. There was always a risk that one of her books might be picked up by one of her fellow students who would instantly know the book didn't weigh the correct amount.

May stopped next to Hermione and nudged her gently, then motioned with her head towards the coffee table in front of their large couch. On the table was a platter with a large chocolate cake and a steaming pot of tea.

"Uh oh," Hermione muttered.

"Harry's baked a cake," May replied. "That means he thinks he did something wrong."

The girls were surprised to discover that Harry was very good at cooking, but he didn't do it often because he didn't want Dobby to be offended. Most of the time he cooked, he did it to relax, but on two previous occasions he had done it as a peace offering.

Hermione glanced at May. "Do you know what he's done?"

"No, you?"

She shook her head, then sighed. One of the times he baked a cake it had been to apologize because Weyr duties kept him from being able to make love to either girl for two weeks. Neither girl felt that way and were shocked at his apology and peace offering. Both girls understood why he felt the need to spend two weeks at Sakushima Weyr. Popping back and forth every day would have been too much because of the time difference.

The second time he apologized it was because he had broken a favorite cup of Hermione's that her grandmother had given her. It was a careless accident on his part and magic had easily repaired the family heirloom, but Harry was certain that Hermione would be furious with him for breaking the cup.

Harry came into the living room and spotted the girls. He gave them a weak smile and waved them forward.

He moved to sit in an armchair facing the couch.

"What have you done that you think we're going to be mad at you Harry," May said, sitting on the couch.

Harry blinked and chuckled softly, then shook his head. "Nothing yet but I do want to bring up something to both of you."

Hermione looked up from pouring herself and May some tea. "What would that be?"

Harry fidgeted for a moment, then he took a deep breath. "Would it bother either of you if I asked Eddie to accept me into her faith?" he asked uncertainly.

Both women looked at him in surprise. One of the fundamental differences between May and Hermione was religion. Hermione was a Catholic and May belonged to the Church of Scotland.

Hermione sighed and looked over towards May. "I suppose in a way, this is our fault. Neither of us really tried to convince Harry of our beliefs," she said softly then she turned back to Harry. "Can I ask what your reasons are?"

Harry leaned back on his chair. "No matter how hard I try to forget it, I still remember being locked in my cupboard, hungry and in pain. I tried praying to Jesus for help but it never came," he said softly, refusing to meet their gaze. "I remember hearing about the Dursleys who thought they were great Christians but they would spend hours sniping at their neighbors. The only exposure I had to religion was what I heard on the telly and I couldn't help thinking about what I had done wrong that Jesus wouldn't help me."

Harry's expression took on a faraway troubled look and Chekiath crooned softly in his stall. The large dragon lay watching the three of them intently. He was obviously interested in the conversation and didn't like the fact that his rider was getting upset.

Harry blinked and shook his head, then he shot a quick grin at his dragon before turning back to the others. "Out of all of the religions that have visited the Weyr, only Eddie is truly accepting of us. Father Tomas wants his superiors to accept us, but they are unwilling to commit to anything. Vicar Stafford has visited just once and that Muslim guy, Imam Birmas visits once a week, walking around and scowling at everything. Each of these groups preaches tolerance, but the undeniable fact is they don't really mean it." He lifted his gaze and met Hermione's. "Tell me that you're not disappointed by the fact that the Catholic church refuses to say one way or another if dragons have souls," he said, then he turned to May. "The Church of Scotland didn't even bother sending a representative, and the Church of England seems split between acceptance of dragons and a call to slaughter them as devil spawn. The one representative they sent didn't want to be here and has never returned. The Archbishop spoke highly of meeting with us and then got bogged down in church politics.

"Where is the gentle, tolerant behavior they profess to teach. Where is the understanding and willingness to adapt to new situations?" he said firmly. "Eddie Took offers an alternative, and something more. Hermione will understand this part."

Harry held out a hand and whispered something unintelligible. A small golden flame appeared floating above his palm. "I feel no pull on my core Hermione," he said softly, his voice was tinged with awe. "No pull at all."

Hermione frowned and leaned forward on her chair. "How did you do that?"

"I asked for a light to guide me," Harry replied. "It's an old Gaelic prayer to Ernmass the Earth Mother."

"Harry, that could just be you invoking some powerful spirit," Hermione cautioned. The golden light deeply troubled her. The fact that he couldn't feel any pull on his core bothered her even more. Of all the wizards she knew, Harry was the one most attuned to his core. It was a function of being a mage. That he could invoke an exterior entity to create an obviously magical light shouldn't have been possible.

"Isn't that what praying to Jesus is? Calling on a powerful spirit for aid?" he countered. "Seriously you have faith that some guy who died two thousand years ago can help you. What's the difference between your faith in Jesus and Eddie's faith in a deity that is thousands of years older than yours?"

May shook her head. "He's got you there Hermione. It boils down to faith. I have to admit that Eddie troubles me. Her religion seems more active than any other. I won't say she can do miracles, but I've seen her do things that really make me wonder."

May turned to Harry. "I did not fall in love with you because of your religious beliefs. You are a good and kind man Harry Potter, the kind of man I want to be the father of my children. Religion is a deeply personal thing and I think that if you find comfort in the teachings that Eddie offers you should seek it out. You have valid questions that I can't answer and the Clergy that have visited don't seem to want to confront."

May paused and one hand reached up to twist some of her hair, it was a sign Harry recognized that she was thinking hard. "I will admit I was unhappy that the Church of Scotland did not send a representative to the Weyr. I spoke to my parents local vicar and he said the church elders were unwilling to commit at this time. I explained to the vicar that their unwillingness to commit might cost them converts, but he brushed me off. He had no interest in a congregation that wasn't human."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I am not trying to convince anyone to convert here. The more I think about it the more troubled I feel about the Christian faiths. I've spoken with Father Tomas several times now and I find him a likable fellow, but his answers to my questions seem - forced, as if he had trouble believing in them himself. If either of you are against it, then I won't speak to Eddie about it. I probably will never be a good Christian but your opinion is what matters to me the most. Say no and I'll drop the subject and forget about it."

Hermione crossed her arms and scowled. "What about our children? I don't know about May, but my faith expects me to raise my children as Catholics."

Harry leaned back in his chair. "Well that was never going to happen was it Hermione?" he replied harshly. "Not unless you were planning on convincing May to also convert, and then figure out how to get the pope to forgive the fact that you're in a relationship involving three dragons and three people."

Harry sighed and continued in a softer tone. "My take on it is simple. Expose the children to all three faiths and let them make their own decisions when they are old enough. The harder issue is the fact that for you two, your faith will never accept your relationship. What would your church do if they knew what kind of life you're living Hermione?" he asked.

"I don't know," she whispered.

"They'd excommunicate her," May said. "Mine would do the same."

"They'd refuse to talk to you?" Harry said incredulously.

May chuckled at Harry's misunderstanding and Hermione smiled. "No love, they would kick us from the church and claim we were destined to go to hell," May replied.

"They don't do it often, but the church has done it for less reasons these days. There was a time when just getting a divorce would earn an excommunication," Hermione added softly then she sighed. "I am starting to see what you've been saying Harry. They preach tolerance and forgiveness, but in some ways they aren't tolerant or forgiving."

"Hermione," Harry said uncomfortably. "I never meant to force you to question your faith."

Hermione placed her cup down on the table and stood, she walked around the table and knelt by his chair. "Sweetheart," she said. "If there is one thing I have learned about you is that you look very carefully at something before making a decision these days. You have obviously thought a great deal about this and have brought up issues I hadn't considered. If I sound annoyed it's because I've been refusing to look at this logically. I wanted you to convert to Catholicism, May too. I wanted us to share that experience."

Hermione leaned back on her knees and shook her head ruefully. "You were right to point out the flaw in that idea. But at the same time I don't think I'm quite ready to give that up either."

"Harry isn't asking you to Hermione," May pointed out gently.

Hermione smiled at her. "I know. I also know that Harry still has one more reason he hasn't told us yet."

Harry smiled at her. "Oh?" he challenged, she knew him too well!

"You know you do. As much as you want to share this with us, you also want to share it with your dragon," Hermione countered.

Harry chuckled. "Can you imagine the riders and dragons attending mass at Saint Peters in Rome?" he asked.

"Or just a local church on Arran," May murmured. "There'd be no room in Saint Brides in Brodick."

Harry smiled at that. May had shown Harry around Brodick which was the largest settlement on the Isle of Arran, and the place where she went to school. He remembered well the quaint little church that he attended Christmas services with her and her family. Just trying to fit Chekiath into the building would require knocking out a wall!

Hermione stood and walked back to her seat where she took a sip of her tea. "Harry, if this is what you want to do I wouldn't try to stop you. In fact you've given me pause. I believe I am a good catholic, but I know according to my teachings I am sinning even if it doesn't feel like I am. I also know they would never accept what we have. Between you and Eddie you've presented a powerful case that I can't argue against."

She held up a hand stifling Harry's protest. "I know, you're not asking to argue about it. The simple fact is that the more I look at your case the less convinced I am that my own case is the right one," she said, then she shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's not unreasonable to accept that Eddie will be taking in a lot of us, even me eventually. I'm not willing to give up yet, but I am deeply disappointed in my own faith."

"Maybe that's the singular problem with all religions," May offered softly. "Ultimately there are people in control, making human mistakes. We hope they won't make mistakes, but we all know they do."

Hermione nodded grimly, then she brightened. "Well enough with the glum talk. I feel the need for a big piece of Harry's cake. If he even quits being Weyrleader he'll certainly be able to get a job as a bakery chef."

"_Harry would never quit being Weyrleader,"_ Chekiath said from his stall. _"I know he doesn't like it, but he does it for all of us."_

May chuckled and glanced over at Harry who had covered his face in his hands. "We know Chekiath, but Harry does make a wonderful cake. It's a shame that dragons don't have a sweet tooth."

"_I know. It's strange, I have so many teeth, but none of them are sweet,"_ Chekiath replied.

Both girls stared at the dragon who was opening is huge mouth and exposing over one hundred teeth. Harry on the other hand slid off his chair in laughter.

**Campbeltown Weyr, May 30th 1999...**

"Eddie are you busy?"

Eddie looked up from her desk and smiled at the people standing in the doorway. "Millicent, hi there. Come on in."

Millicent entered the room followed by Bob Malwich and Sammy Hinnerman. The three riders had been asking her some rather deep questions of late and she was sure that sooner or later they would ask to be taught about the Goddess. The only one that seemed to be even more interested was the Weyrleader and she was certain he wasn't going to make a decision until he had examined it from every possible angle.

Harry seemed to know instinctively how to react to serious situations, but when he had time to consider a course of action he would examine every aspect before picking a path.

Eddie motioned to the chairs and the trio sat down, each of them was looking a bit nervous albeit for different reasons. Eddie liked Millicent who came from a family that still upheld many of the old traditions. Millicent herself had rejected many of her family's beliefs, but she was very interested in what Eddie had to offer.

Eddie looked over the trio, Millicent had blossomed in the Weyr, changing from a dour girl who had few friends to a budding scientist who found reason to smile often. Eddie had been told the tales of her life before the Weyr, and of the family that tried to bargain her away for a business advantage.

Now she was in a three way relationship with two muggle riders and all three seemed to be very happy.

"Goddess' blessing on you," she said mostly out of habit. All three riders bowed their heads briefly then looked up at her again.

"So what can I do for you three today?" Eddie asked.

Milli glanced at the others, then took a deep breath and plunged right in. "Eddie, I, that is, we would like you to perform a handfasting, if possible, on this coming solstice."

Eddie smiled broadly. "I would be honored to perform the service, and that would give me enough time to instruct you in the ritual. Tell me, will you also want to perform the marriage bonding afterwards?"

Millicent shook her head no; it was obvious she was not happy with that answer. Bob reached for her hand and said, "We're not sure Eddie. Milli has told us about it, and what it would do to her. Sammy and I don't want her to go through with that and she disagrees. In fact it's been just about the only thing we've disagreed about since Tarianth and Pandorth rose for their first mating flight."

Eddie looked over to Millicent for a moment in thought then she turned to the others. "I presume this is about how the bonding will shorten Millicent's life?"

Both men nodded, neither of them wanted that to happen.

Eddie nodded, this was something she had seen many times before in mixed marriages. And it was something she was used to helping the non-magical understand.

"Bob, Sammy, Milli isn't offering this option as a way of hurting herself," Eddie said gently. "Marriage, especially among magical people is supposed to be a joining of equals. Milli is a powerful witch who could well live to one hundred and forty years old. As muggles your lifespan is only half of Milli's. Are you willing to condemn her to fifty years or more without you? Her magic through the bonding will reach out to share itself with you both. Her lifespan will drop, and yours will increase. It will try to even everyone out so that there is less of a difference between you all. It may mean that all three of you could live to one hundred instead of two of you living to seventy while Milli lives to one hundred and forty."

"We know all that," Sammy protested.

"Then what is the problem?" asked Eddie in confusion.

Sammy laid a hand on Millicent's arm and she gave him a weak smile. He turned back to Eddie. "We understand what it means and what it will do, but Bob and I don't like the idea that we would be responsible for shortening her life."

Bob nodded. "I would feel terrible about it. My mum used to buy my grandda his cigarettes after he retired. When he died of lung cancer she blamed herself, she thought she killed him," he said with a shudder. "I couldn't ask that of Sammy and I certainly won't ask that of Milli."

"And yet I would willingly do this for you both," Millicent said fervently.

"_You all are very being silly and I think it's time to stop this!"_ Tarianth exclaimed. Tarianth was a Hebridean Black dragon and nearly twice as large as the vipertooths that were bonded with Sammy and Bob. It was very obvious in her tone that Tarianth was clearly the alpha dragon in this triplet.

Eddie couldn't help but wonder if Millicent was also the alpha in the triplet.

Millicent started and looked towards the ceiling, "Tari?" she exclaimed.

"_I'm sorry Milli but this fight has been going on and on for months and all it's doing is delaying your happiness,"_ replied Tarianth. _"__You could have spent all that time happily shagging instead of endless talk talk talk."_

"Tari, don't you see? If we do this, Milli will lose years off her life!" Sammy said brokenly.

"_No she won't,"_ Tarianth replied firmly. _"You three have been fighting over this for months and I'm tired of listening to it. You have all forgotten one very important thing."_

Milli glanced over at Bob who shrugged, he couldn't think of anything they had forgotten. Both turned to Sammy who shook his head.

Eddie leaned forward on her chair. "Tarianth, what have they forgotten?" She wasn't surprised that the dragon had joined the conversation, but it did surprise her that Tarianth seemed so certain of something.

"_Am I not magical? Or Pandorth? Or Rasilorth? Can we not also be part of the bonding, adding our magic to Milli's?" _Tarianth asked indignantly. _"Will that not insure we all share in a longer life? Together like we were meant to?"_

Millicent's mouth dropped open and she looked around at the others. Eddie laughed lightly, "Leave it to the dragons to see what we have been overlooking. Harry's been saying all along that even the human couples are really four people. The bonding doesn't require any special spells cast by anyone but the bonder. Since Milli would be the bonder for the ritual, all she would need to do is include the three dragons in her casting."

"Wouldn't that shorten their lifespans as well?" asked Bob worriedly.

Millicent shook her head. "I don't believe so. Dragons have a higher magical index than wizards. And don't forget we really don't know what the natural lifespan of a dragon is. All of the older dragons today grew up in the wizard reserves where they weren't treated well. A bonded dragon has a lifespan of whatever their rider is. If I were to include the dragons... who knows what changes that would make to our lifespans."

"_Your lifespan is what it is,"_ Tarianth said, _"How long you live is less important than you think. How well you live is more important."_

"Very wise words," Eddie said softly, "Wise words indeed, and an idea we would all profit from. Thank you for that Tarianth." The Druid priestess turned her attention back to the three dragon riders. "I take it that solves the problem?"

Milli looked at Bob who nodded, then they both looked to Sammy who also agreed. "It more than I expected," he admitted, "I'm game, the idea that our lives might be longer is appealing, especially if we're together."

Eddie marked down the date on her calendar then she looked up. "I want to meet with each of you, both together and privately during the next two weeks. Milli I'll help coach you on the bonding spell."

Millicent nodded, her mind was already whirling with a list of things she'd need to get done and she hoped she could get some help from Emma Granger who acted as a surrogate Mum for most of the girls. The thought of Emma made her consider something else.

"Oh my," she said suddenly and everyone turned to her.

"Milli, is something wrong?" asked Eddie. She wondered what obstacle the young woman had thought of.

Milli shook her head and grimaced. "You need to talk to Hermione," she blurted. "If our dragons can share in our bonding, what kind of bonding will a Mage, an above average witch and three of the largest dragons on the planet have?"

Eddie leaned back in her chair. "Oh my indeed," she said softly as it hit her. The Weyr's bondings would undoubtedly be different than the usual ones she participated in, but The Weyrleader's bonding would be unique. Eddie made a mental note to send an email to Hermione about it.

Bob chuckled and shook his head. "The Weyrleader never does anything by halves."

"_Of course he doesn't,"_ Comaloth said suddenly. _"He is more like his dragon than anyone knows. And like his dragon he is capable of covering his consorts as often as they need it. __Chekiath is Harry in dragon form and Harry is Chekiath in human form.__"_

All four humans stared at each other in shock. No one knew that any dragons were listening in other than Tarianth.

Milli suddenly blushed. She recalled several times when both Bob and Sammy were too tired to continue and she wanted more. _And Harry can handle that?_ She wondered to herself. _Damn! Hermione and May are lucky girls!  
_

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

* Still a lot of building and scene setting in this chapter, but next chapter things will start picking up as we see some of the results of the Weyr's efforts.

* A special shout out to Timefreak who tried to convince me he had confused one of my stories with someone elses. Alyx is heading your way with a pickup truck loaded with power tools and a donkey named Pete. Don't run, resistance is futile, oh and yeah, Pete bites.

* A lot of people seem to think autonomy means a completely separate state. It doesn't. If you look at any of the Indian tribes here in the US, while they can create their own laws, they are bound to abide by federal law and cannot pass a law which violates said federal law. They do have some additional freedoms that regular citizens do not have, but they are a part of the US as much as any other non-Indian citizen. I really wish people would stop equating autonomy as 100 percent freedom because it isn't.

* EdenAthene wants to know why Campbeltown hasn't changed it's name to Spath's Weyr. Probably for the same reason that they waited over one hundred and fifty years after George Washington's death to build the bridge in his name across the Hudson River in NY. You'll note that I never said when they changed the name, so it'll happen, but perhaps it won't happen until the end of this book.

* A lot of people want to know if anyone from the Japanese royal family will be searched as a rider. I can say with certainty that no, none of the immediate family will be selected. Will a more distant relation be selected? Maybe, I'm still writing sections and I haven't made up my mind about it. And no, that isn't a call to know what you think. My plot file contains things I need to write and things that might be nice to include. That particular nugget is in the nice to include pile.

* Dragonknight1775 next time you leave a review, please make sure it's clear what you're asking because I haven't a clue what you mean. I sent your review out to be translated and it came up with a post it note stating they can't translate drunk.

* Shiaira73, to answer your question, this story is possibly the last multichapter HP story you'll see from me. After this is complete I do have an idea for an original work that I hope will earn a few dimes and nickels along the way. All I have right now is an idea file where I've been tossing things in concerning the plot, but once I have finished this book I'll start working on that, and try to figure out how to market it online. Needless to say I have time still before I have to worry about that new tale.

* Several people wanted to see the Weyr handle the dementors, but they are forgetting that they have already seen that several times in this story line. How many times can I write about seeing dragons swoop down and snatch a dementor to take Between before it becomes old? Seriously seeing the hunt really wasn't necessary.

* Trichorse, you are right, I have thought of it already and you'll see some of it in the next chapter.

* Sleepygirl68. WAKE UP! Heh, but seriously don't be afraid to leave a review. Authors like to know what works and what doesn't. As to the Weasleys my take is simple. Do not let your personal distaste for Ron or Ginny or any Weasley to cloud your judgment. A good author can make a case for a good Weasley just as easily as a bad one. I'm notorious for knocking Dumbledore and yet, in this story he was a good guy that everyone accepted. I can read Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione or Harry and any other female because I don't let what I've read previously in fan fiction cloud my feelings for any character. Don't fall into that trap and you'll find Fan fiction a lot more enjoyable because you have a lot more choices.

* And FINALLY, please do not ask me to critique your "Multi-chapter epic story" if;  
\- The chapters are less than 2k in size and you have 21 chapters for less than 12K words.  
\- If the term Character Development and Motivation sounds like a foreign film title to you.  
\- If you are writing a cross over between a well known universe and some obscure Manga drawn by a friend of yours who lives in his parent's basement.  
\- If during your writing you've asked the readers what they want to see. Personally I like my readers, but I consider asking them anything to be a cardinal sin. May your soul burn forever in hell, or worse may you discover that the bulk of your readers really do want to see you write a Harry/Hagrid/Minerva story where Hagrid is a world famous sushi chef. It's your story, write it your way and don't ask the readers for input.


	5. Chapter 5

**Standard Disclaimer:**

Bob walked out onto the stage with a big box in his hands. "Do you mind telling me why you ordered 5000 athletic supporters?" he demanded.

Alyx looked up at him in confusion, she was struggling to move a large four blade airplane propeller to the corner of the room where a stack of eight propellers were slowly gouging a hole in the floor.

"Oh they finally arrived!" she exclaimed, "Put them in the corner with the other boxes."

Bob looked at the corner and saw a small mountain of boxes, all similar in size to the one he held in his hands, then he shook his head and sighed. "I know I'm going to regret asking, but you bought more than just this box of athletic supporters?"

Alyx grunted and shoved the propeller onto the stack. The floor groaned ominously and Bob moved away from that corner. He wasn't sure, but it did appear as if the stage was starting to tilt in that direction.

"Oh yes, I'm still waiting on the total shipment, they had to backorder it you know."

"Backorder?" Bob repeated weakly. "Couldn't you just write a standard disclaimer like I asked you? The readers will never know we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern if you keep this up!"

Alyx shrugged. "Don't worry, after we're fabulously rich you'll be able to visit each one personally and tell them yourself. I'm sure the little buggers will be delighted to see you on their doorstep."

Bob glanced down at his outfit and noted the utility belt containing two tazers, an electric drill and a supercooled butt plug. The orange shorts and Aloha shirt didn't help either. "More like terrified," he muttered in reply. "Ok I'll bite, how are we going to become super rich?"

Alyx glared at him. "I'm going to be super rich, you are just going to have to do what I tell you so that you can hope to share some crumbs from my good fortune."

Bob's fists clenched, "Must not hit her," he said to himself while grinding his teeth, then he returned her glare. "Fess up or I'll replace your llamas with Emu's. I know you hate Emu's!"

Alyx placed both hands on her hips and glared back at him. "It's the world cup!" she stated as if no further explanation was necessary.

Bob blinked then he frowned and realized that she made him blink far too much. Too much blinking was bad for you! Just ask the people of Blink Virginia, a town that vanished in... well, a blink. "How is a soccer tournament in South America going to make you rich?"

Alyx paled dramatically. "Soccer? I thought it was the world cup! I never would have bought so many cups..." she trailed off and rubbed her chin thoughtfully for a minute. "I know, instead of cornering the market on cups, we'll market them as sling shots!"

Bob walked over to a wall and started to bang his head against it. A doorbell rang and Alyx looked up happily, "Oh goodie, another prop for my movie project!" she exclaimed.

Bob turned to the audience with a pleading expression. "Enjoy the chapter folks while I try to unload eighty thousand sling shots on Ebay. I wonder if I can sell them to Canada as Chipmunk houses?"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies**  
**Chapter 05**  
**Looming Disasters**

* * *

**Island of ****Orø, Denmark, June 1****st**** 1999...**

Harry stood silently along with his riders. He had only brought five wings with him today, there hadn't been room enough to bring the entire manned compliment of Campbeltown. Originally the plan had been to bring just one wing, but Lee had convinced Harry that five wings would have a greater impact on the media.

One hundred dragons in a nice neat line that would have made a drill instructor proud, and beside each, their rider, dressed in the formal Campbeltown uniform. Even Harry had to admit, they looked damn good. The only riders not standing with their dragons were a select group standing with Harry on the raised platform in front of the assembled press and dignitaries.

Campbeltown now boasted eighteen wings of riders broken into four divisions. Each division comprised five wings, although division four was currently short by two wings and would remain that way until after the November impression.

It still amazed Harry, they had three hundred and eighty riders. He remembered when they had less than forty riders and seemed like there were so few of them. Still, there were less than one thousand riders even if you included all five manned Weyrs.

"Are you paying attention?" hissed May quietly.

Harry blinked and shook his head. "Sorry," he mumbled. He hadn't been paying attention. This was an important day and he was woolgathering. Today was the grand opening of the very first commercial power plant. It was capable of providing the city of Copenhagen and the surrounding communities with a significant amount of electricity and it would allow the Danish government to begin the ardous task of decomissioning an aging nuclear power plant.

May smiled and edged a little closer to him. Hermione on his other side glanced over at her and smiled. She had contacted May and read her the riot act about what she was doing. May had come to realize that what they had was precious and would only work if all three of them continually made the effort needed to keep it on track.

Hermione knew she could have been selfish and take advantage of May's absence, but she just didn't have that kind of maliciousness in her makeup. As much as Harry was missing May, so was Hermione.

May had returned to the Weyr that very night despite having told Harry she would be away for a few more days. She had been tearful and genuinely unhappy with herself when she arrived home. Harry had forgiven her instantly, but that didn't stop the tear filled three way hugs that ensued.

Since that day she always made it home in time for dinner. It was a painful experience for her and a learning one for everyone as they agreed that they needed to work harder to make sure no one was taken for granted. There would still be nights away on occasion, but everyone vowed to try to make as few as possible.

Harry looked around while the speaker spoke in a language he didn't understand. An interpreter was providing a running translation for the riders, but Harry had tuned her out. He was more interested in the large building in front of him.

It was an imposing building, easily several football field lengths long and taller than the Campbeltown hangars which had been designed to house long range bombers. A pair of cooling towers loomed over the large parking lot.

The bulk of the building was filled with huge turbines that created the electricity. The actual heating chambers that produced the high pressure steam that turned the turbines only took up a small section of the building.

"I thought only nuclear power plants had cooling towers like that," Hermione observed.

Harry smiled and shook his head. "No, according to the book Sir Robert gave me, towers like that are also found at coal powered plants. You just associate their characteristic shape with nuclear plants. Besides, the design was originally modified from a nuclear power plant design."

Hermione looked at him in surprise and he chuckled at her reaction. "What? I do read the material people hand me you know."

She shook her head and stammered, but he just smiled and nudged her with his shoulder. "I'm only teasing you," he said quietly.

She returned the smile and turned back to look at an area that had been set up especially for this day. The single heating chamber lay on the back of a large flatbed truck and a crane was already attached to the chamber. One side of the chamber was opened like a door and in a little bit the several of the dragons would blast the large granite slabs with dragon fire.

Nearby four other trucks held the remaining chambers that were supposed to be installed.

The plant would use a total five heat transfer chambers to power all of the turbines. This first chamber was being used to inaugurate the plant. The remaining four chambers would be moved into position, heated and them lifted into the building over the next four days.

Today was a publicity stunt that Harry had reluctantly agreed to at the prodding of Lord Mills and Lee Jordan. Heating the first chamber so publicly like this was a reminder to the world that this plant was special, it was a clean source of energy that would produce cheap electricity for years to come.

In order to maintain safety Harry had insisted that police and private guards keep everyone back from the heating chamber while the dragons heated the rock slabs. The last thing he wanted was an accident, or worse, to occur. Outside the plant gate a small but vocal group of protesters shouted and marched in circles while the police watched.

Once the rocks were heated to the correct temperature, the door would be closed and sealed and the crane would hoist the chamber up and into the building through a huge access panel in the roof of the building.

The heating chambers were modular and designed to be removed for servicing and repair. These chambers were part of the second set built under contract by the combined efforts of BP and Exxon. The first set were still waiting to be installed at the British power plant.

Harry recalled reading that the minimum life of a heating chamber would be thirty years. The hot rocks would continue to put out heat, but the chamber itself would require maintenance and refurbishing to ensure optimal performance.

The heating chamber was a very boxy affair and no one would call it pretty, but then it wasn't designed to be pretty, it was designed to transfer heat efficiently. The walls of the chamber were extra thick because they contained nearly a mile of piping that would be filled with water. As the water heated, it would turn to steam and build up tremendous pressure that would turn the steam turbines to generate electricity.

For this installation it had been decided that dragons would heat the slabs once they were installed in the chamber, then the chamber would be plugged into the power plant. There were safety concerns about moving loaded chambers, but plans were in place to provide a dragon ferry service for the heat chambers.

Some countries were insisting on ground transportation for the chambers, which limited their size. Harry hoped that in a few years people would become accustomed to dragons moving heavy loads so that they could move them to wherever they were needed.

The speaker up on the stage stopped talking and he gestured towards the flatbed truck containing the heating chamber.

"Weyrleader, when you're ready," said the translator helpfully.

Harry nodded to the woman, then he turned to Draco who stood nearby. "It's your turn Draco," he said softly.

Draco grinned and gestured. Several of the dragons from his wing broke formation and approached the open door of the heating chamber while Sinnath leapt skyward. Harry and Draco planned this carefully. Since this was being done publicly they decided to be a little showy about it.

Multiple TV camera crews strained trying to follow the dragons on the ground and the one in the air.

Two Chinese Fireballs lead the four dragon group that stopped about thirty feet from the truck. A siren sounded and the workers scrambled away from the truck. Even the crane operator left the cab of the crane and took shelter.

Sinnath circled overhead looking to see if any people were still nearby.

"_It's all clear,"_ Sinnath called. Draco nodded and signaled to one of the workmen who sounded a siren one last time. When the siren ended both Chinese fireballs spat blue-white balls of fire in rapid succession at the chamber and the metal container filled with fire. The crowd gasped in surprise at the precisely formed balls of fire. The Chinese fireballs split away after sending roughly five fireballs each and the other two dragons stepped forward to bathe the rock slabs with a steady stream of bluish white fire. For nearly a half minute they carefully controlled their fire, then they stopped and stepped back.

Harry nodded in satisfaction at their effort. The blueish electric corona around the dragon fire meant that the dragons wanted these rock slabs to stay hot for ever. Even the lightest fire that the dragons used to heat the pebbles under their sand beds had the tell tale corona.

Inside the metal chamber the rocks glowed a bright yellowish-red. The air in front of the open door roiled and curled, warping the view of the glowing rocks within the chamber.

Sinnath landed by the truck and used his head to swing the massive metal door closed. Once the door was shut workers ran forward and sealed the door with heavy bolts. The heat was still evident by the roiling air escaping from the piping that ran throughout the chamber walls.

It would take another three days of work once the chamber was in place before the power station could start generating power from that chamber. Water had to be carefully pumped into the piping and all the air bled out of the pipes, it was only then that the steam could be used to turn the turbines.

Applause filled the parking lot. This was the first time the public had seen the dragon's fire breathing abilities and the Weyr had made a show of it. The Chinese Fireballs had been there mostly for show, but it was a show that impressed everyone who witnessed it.

Harry smiled and nodded in approval to Draco. His dragons had performed wonderfully and now the Orø plant would soon be adding it's power to the national grid. If everything goes as planned, Denmark had a plan that would see them phasing out all other power plants within thirty five years.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin...**

The man walked over and angrily snapped off the television. It had just repeated the clip from the opening ceremony of the Orø power plant in Denmark. He turned to the Energy Minister. "You are sure of this? They are reducing their order?"

The man nervously nodded and shuffled some papers. The Special Committee for State Security officially didn't exist, but it was the most powerful organization within the Russian government. "Yes Sergei, right now it's only a minor order reduction which could be attributed to the fact that we are going into summer now. Demand tends to flucuate during the transistional months before the summer heat hits."

"But you don't think so?" pressed the Minister of the Foriegn Intelligence Service. Behind the President, he was the most powerful man in the country and everyone knew that the president was terrified of the man. No one except the president understood that the Foriegn Intelligence Service was also a front for the Russian Ministry of Magic. The FIS had been subverted back during the Stalin era when it was still the NKVD and had remained under wizard control throughout the cold war and beyond.

"No Mishka," replied the Energy minister. "I don't think so. There is always some flucuation based on seasons, but this year it is bigger than usual. I think what we're seeing is the first impact from these damned dragon powered power plants. The current Danish plan is to decommission a 650 megawatt nuclear reactor and phase in this new 750 megawatt plant. That extra 100 megawatts allows them to reduce output at one of their natural gas plants. All total we're looking at less than a one percent reduction from their summer purchases. This is the first time I can positively say these dragons have affected us. And I fear it's only going to get worse."

"Without that income our economy will grind to a halt!" exclaimed the Finance Minister. He pounded a meaty fist against the table causing the cups to rattle. Russia was heavily dependent upon its exports of natural gas and oil products to other countries. "What can be done about this?"

"Are there any of these creatures on our soil?" asked the president quietly.

"There were. We have long heard whispers about sightings of these creatures, but until recently have dismissed them as the gibbering of drunks," admitted Mishka Danakov guardily. Danakov was the Minister for Magic and knew that they once had a dragon reserve. Unfortunately he couldn't readily admit that a secret society had been raising the beasts within their territory. "Perhaps we should reexamine those reports and see if they can be located."

The president stood and looked around. "It it too early to say how bad this problem is. If we have any of these creatures perhaps we can catch some and use them to learn how to discredit the others. I know this demands action my friends, but we must be patient and cautious. It would not do to act without due consideration and deliberation. When Russia acts I want us to be able to do so from a position of power and inpunity."

"We will not be alone in our outrage Mister President. Our contacts abroad have suggested that several of the other oil producing nations are greatly concerned," offered the Foriegn Minister.

The president nodded, then he turned to the Energy Minister. "You will monitor this situation carefully. Find out how many of these plants are being built and what nations this will affect. Surely we are not the only ones that will be affected by these creatures and their damned rocks," he ordered.

Turning to Danakov, he lowered his tone. "You will seek out these dragons if they are in our territory yes?"

Danakov looked at him for a long moment, then he nodded. He knew taking this move would turn a great many of the ICW member nations against them. He would have to act and make it seem like the Russian Ministry of Magic was not involved. This was something that would have to be planned carefully, the dragons were garnering a lot of support in the ICW. It would not do invoke that ire on mother Russia.

First things first, find out if the old Russian preserve still housed dragons. It had been warded and hidden, so he'd have to send out people to find and break those wards.

**Campbeltown Weyr, August 17****th**** 1999...**

It was the sound of the phone ringing incessantly that brought Harry to a waking state.

"Hullo?" May said groggily. She listened for a moment, then abruptly sat up in bed and swung her feet over to touch the floor.

Harry lifted his head and glanced at the clock. It wasn't quite six in the morning but just from May's posture he knew something bad had happened.

"How bad?" asked May, sounding more awake.

Harry frowned and Hermione sat up in the bed.

"I see. The airports are all closed? And the roads too?"

Harry exchanged a worried look with Hermione, she nodded and slid sideways on the bed. Harry moved around her and stood up, slipping his feet into slippers and putting on a robe.

May scribbled something down on a pad next to the phone. "Yes, Hangar twenty two, Heathrow. We'll be there. Is someone sending the jump photographs?"

Harry frowned, that meant they were going to someplace they hadn't been before. This was a new technique, but one that they had worked out with the Royal Coast Guard. Someone would take a digital photograph of an area and email it to the Weyr. Providing the camera had sufficient resolution the picture would be suitable for a lone dragon to make the jump. That dragon would then transmit the live jump imagery to the Weyr and they could be on the scene of a disaster in just seconds after the first dragon arrived.

The technique had already proven itself at sea.

"Yes yes, thank you, we'll be there, don't worry," May said, then she hung up the phone and turned towards Harry. "Turkey has been hit with a heavy earthquake. Airports in the region are too heavily damaged and there's only one open road. The Turkish government is asking for international help; they are predicting thousands of deaths.

She glanced down at her quickly scribbled notes. "The Red Cross will have one hundred containers of emergency supplies at Heathrow in about two hours. As we speak trucks are already heading to the warehouses to pick them up. They are asking for our help in transporting them and rescue workers to the disaster area."

Hermione walked over and turned on the small television they kept in the bedroom. She set it to an all news channel which was airing a report on the disaster. Harry glanced over at the TV noting the wreckage and utter chaos of injured and panicked people and his expression soured. He motioned to Hermione to mute the TV and she did.

"Division three will handle the cargo lift. Division two will help transport rescue workers. Division four is two wings light and has the least experienced people. Let's keep them here as a ferry reserve in case they are needed. We'll take division one directly to the jump site and see if we can find a spot to set up and start relief efforts," he said.

Harry led division one which was made up of the most seasoned riders. Ronan had been promoted to divisional leader for Division two, Wing One. Bob Malwich had replaced Ronan as Harry's wing second.

"Dobby!" Harry called.

Dobby appeared with a pop, yawning. "Harry Potter sir?"

Harry smiled. "I'm sorry for waking you Dobby, but you remember when we practiced that disaster drill a few months ago?"

Dobby's large eyes widened even larger than normal and he nodded. "Is it time then Harry Potter sir?"

"I'm afraid so. Wake up the elves and start them moving the supplies we packed away out to the tarmac," Harry said.

Dobby nodded and vanished with a pop.

"Cheki are you awake big fellow?" Harry called through the open door of the bedroom.

"_How can we sleep with you chatting away so loudly this morning," _replied his dragon sleepily. _"Shall I wake the Weyr?"_

Harry turned to May. "Well?"

May nodded slowly, she was thinking furiously. She had been one of the prime people behind the idea of aligning the Weyr with the Red Cross for major disaster relief. But like most disasters, they never happened when you expected them and the suddenness of it caught her by surprise.

"If division one is leaving after getting the jump image we might as well. The elves can't come with us and there's several tons of firewood, food and medical supplies we need to move right away. It'll take at least two hours before Heathrow is ready for us with supplies and people to ferry," she replied slowly.

The Weyr had pre-positioned material that they could use to set up a forward working base, including tents, a small field kitchen and satellite radios to contact the Red Cross back in Britain.

May waited for a moment and wondered why both Harry and Hermione were looking at her. Then it dawned on her. "Oh," she said softly and flushed slightly. She quickly turned and picked up the phone and dialed a three digit number. "Cindy? Oh good, I thought you would have the duty this morning. Yes I know what time it is. Sound the disaster alarm, get everybody up."

She paused and listened for a moment. "Yes I understand, but this isn't a drill. There's been an earthquake; a bad one, in Turkey," May said a little more forcefully.

May paused again and they could hear a loud horn sounding across the Weyr. The same switch that sounded the alarm also activated flood lights in front of the weyr housing complex and the tarmac where the elves were placing supplies.

Harry turned just in time for Hermione to hand him a large color photo. "This just came in; they said they will continue sending an image every couple minutes."

Harry nodded and hurried to throw on his flight suit; the photo had a very limited lifespan. If he waited too long, the jump would involve time travel and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. "I'll send a jump image as soon as you let me know Division One is ready to go," he said.

All three could hear the dragon door opening in the side of their house as their dragons moved out of the build. Chekiath would wait for Harry while the others went to their assigned positions.

**Izmit, Northwestern Turkey, August 17****th**** 1999...**

Harry and Chekiath popped out of Between over a scene that Dante would have been proud of. Barely a single building was standing and fires were everywhere. Thick heavy smoke choked the air over the city and Chekiath pumped his wings hard, trying to rise above the choking smoke.

He could see stunned masses of people wandering about aimlessly below as if they couldn't comprehend the scope of the disaster that had been visited upon them. The sound of the burning buildings competed with the sound of injured and grieving people below. _Hell would sound like this,_ Harry thought to himself.

"This is bad," Harry murmured. He had never seen such devastation like this before. "Cheki we need to find an open area where we can land supplies. That field hospital they want us to move is pretty big."

"_I'm looking Harry, but there are an awful lot of hurt people down there that need help."_

Harry shivered and nodded. "I know mate but we can't help anyone until we set up a place to work from."

The dragons as a whole had a hard time with the concept of not helping people in need. In the case of the disaster below them, Harry knew Cheki wanted to go help, but one lone dragon wouldn't be able to help many. Disaster relief needed time to gear up before people could be helped, and the dragons needed their riders to help them focus on that issue. It also explained why Harry had no intention of asking the non-bonded dragons to help.

The large dragon quickly and silently flew over the ruined city. They flew for several minutes more before Chekiath said, _"There Harry, to the right, there's a large building and a big open field. It's got a stream running next to the field."_

Harry picked up the spot and eyed it through Cheki's eyes. The spot appeared to be a large sports field next to a school and it was on the edge of the city. The school appeared to be mostly intact from what Harry could see, although he doubted there was a single intact pane of glass in the entire building.

There was a major road nearby but it looked heavily buckled, it would be usable only after someone brought in some heavy equipment. On the plus side, assuming the field wasn't a field of mud, there was room for the field hospital and room for helicopters and dragons to land. The stream appeared to be nearly ten feet below the level of the field so he was hoping for a dry field.

"It's the best we've seen so far Cheki, let's land and check the ground. We need to make sure the quake didn't turn that field into a swamp."

As part of the Weyr's Red Cross disaster training, they had been taught what to expect from an earthquake. When the ground shakes, often a process called liquefaction occurs which can turn a dry field into a muddy mess in just a handful of minutes. For the field to be useful, it had to be dry and solid.

Chekiath banked hard and swooped in low across the field before flaring out and dropping lightly to the ground.

"_Feels dry and firm,"_ he announced.

Harry nodded and swung a leg over one side to slide down. He lightly dropped to the ground and looked around. He reached down and touched the ground. The field hospital needed dry ground to pound in the stakes; he was relieved to see the ground was firm and very dry. He had been worried that the nearby stream would have meant enough ground water to make the field useless.

Harry looked around, other than the school, most of the nearby buildings were little more than rubble piles and even the school had large cracks in it. He immediately ruled out using the school for anything other than a landmark. The building was mostly intact, but laced with large cracks at one end and probably very unstable.

A large group of people were cautiously approaching Harry and his dragon.

"_Harry,"_ Chekiath said in warning.

Harry stepped in front of his dragon and held up his hands. "Does anyone here speak English?" he asked, not expecting anything but blank looks.

"I do," said a soft voice.

Harry turned to see a small boy of perhaps ten or eleven step out of the small crowd. "My father teaches English at the school," said the boy, and then he waved in the direction of the badly damaged building.

The boy was shirtless, wearing only ripped pajama bottoms. A large cut on his shoulder slowly oozed blood and it was surrounded by a heavy purple black bruise and caked with plaster and mud. Harry knelt in front of the boy. "Will you tell the others that help is coming? Soon, there will be a hospital here, and food and clothing. More dragons are coming with doctors, nurses and rescue workers."

The boy nodded and turned to the others. He spoke for a bit then an older gray haired man stepped forward and said something to the boy. He turned to Harry. "He asks what can we do? Everything is gone."

Harry tried to smile reassuringly at the man. "Tell him to just wait for now. Help is coming very soon, doctors, nurses, people and machines to look for survivors. If you aren't hurt you can help us find survivors or help us organize the relief center we'll be setting up. If you are injured, just be patient, medical aid is coming as quickly as possible."

Harry knew that Chekiath could have told the people that, but this wasn't the time to introduce these people to dragon telepathy. He waited until the boy spoke to the others, then the older man turned and gestured to the crowd. He seemed to have some measure of authority because they listened intently to him then they started to move to the side.

Harry nodded in thanks to the man, and then he turned his attention back to the boy. He reached for his canteen and small first aid kit clipped to his belt. He had taken the basic first aid classes that the Red Cross taught and knew he couldn't do much, but he could clean and put a bandage on that wound until a doctor could deal with it.

"What's your name?" he asked gently.

"Malik Demir, my father is Giyas the teacher," replied Malik.

Harry nodded. "I'm going to clean that cut and put a bandage on it Malik. It's going to hurt, but we need to wash the dirt from it."

The boy nodded and looked away while Harry poured some of his water over the wound washing away the grime and plaster. Harry tried to be gentle, but Malik trembled and moaned softly from the pain.

"_It will be over soon Malik,"_ Chekiath said. _"Harry doesn't want you hurting."_

Malik turned and looked at Chekiath with wild eyes. "He spoke to me!" The surprise of the dragon speaking to him was enough to distract the boy from the pain of his injury.

Harry laughed lightly as he dabbed at the wound, then reached for a large bandage. "My friend here is called Chekiath and if you give him the chance he'll talk your ears off. He's my best friend."

"My father is my best friend," Malik replied then he closed his eyes and tried not to let Harry see his tears.

"Where is your father?" Harry asked, but he was fairly certain he already knew the answer.

"The house fell on him," Malik said in a monotone. The boy was suffering from an emotional shock as well as a physical one.

Harry felt a chill run down his back and he wondered just how many houses had fallen on people in this beleaguered city. "And your mum?"

"She works for the Ministry up in Istanbul. I hope she's not hurt."

Harry carefully taped the large gauze pad over the cut, then he peeled off his jacket and wrapped it around the boy. "You are very brave little boy and I know she's going to be very proud of you. I'm going to need your help since I don't speak Turkish. Do you mind staying with Chekiath and me for a bit?"

Malik looked up at Harry, then he looked at Cheki and nodded. He had nowhere else he could go anyway and Harry had told them to wait.

"_Harry, May is asking for jump imagery. Division one is already airborne. Divisions two and three will leave for the __air__plane place once they get word that they are ready for them,"_ Chekiath said.

"_Pass them the jump image Cheki,"_ Harry said silently, then he bent over to look Malik in the eye. "Look up there," he said pointing to an empty spot in the sky. "Help is coming, friends are coming to help you and everyone else."

Malik gasped in surprise as the one hundred dragons of division one appeared enmass. Wing one peeled out of formation and started to spiral down to where Harry stood. Harry noted that many of the dragons in his wing were carrying large bundles of wood. They would set up small fires which they would use for their small kitchen. It wasn't much and wasn't meant to replace what the Red Cross was bringing in but it would be enough for them to start passing out cups of hot soup to the survivors while others organized the field for the real help that was still assembling.

The older gray haired man approached and he spoke to the boy. After a minute Malik turned to Harry, "Mr. Aslan wants to know what they can do to help."

Harry turned to the older man, he spoke slowly so that Malik could repeat his words in Turkish. "We are the first of three groups of dragons coming to help. The next group will take an hour or two to get here and will be bringing a field hospital and rescue workers from the United Kingdom. Perhaps an hour after that, there will be another group of dragons bringing in supplies, tents, food, blankets, tools. Right now we need to prepare the field so that the tents can be set up and make space for a helicopter landing site. After that we'll need to start clearing away the rubble from the south side of the field and shoring up that section of the school," he said, pointing to the spot where pieces of the school had collapsed into the field. It was a section of the building where the cracks had grown so big that bits of the building fell onto the adjacent field. The last thing they needed would be for more of the building to collapse into the field.

The man listened to Malik for a moment nodding, then he replied to the boy. Malik turned to Harry. "Mr Aslan says he knows of a business nearby that owns a bulldozer and other heavy machines. He could take some men and see if they can bring them here."

Harry nodded gratefully. "Please, that would be a big help."

Aslan nodded and turned towards the growing crowd shouting to them. Nearly a dozen men separated from the group and trotted after the old man.

Harry watched for a moment then he turned to see May and Hermione standing nearby. Hermione held a large duffel bag with supplies needed to set up a landing marker for helicopters. "Hermione, take five riders from your wing and go over there to set up your landing site. Make sure they clean away the debris by at least one hundred feet," he ordered.

She nodded and moved back towards where the Wing two riders were standing around. Harry couldn't blame them. The scope of the disaster was daunting and even Harry couldn't see how his dragons could help these people enough to matter. "Chekiath, get them moving," Harry ordered then he turned to May. "This is way out of our league May. Lisa Turpin is our best people medic and she's not going to be able to do much more than what I did for Malik here. Find the best spot in the field and put down the markers for where the hospital will go. The same rules apply, clear away the debris, especially anything sharp. Tell Draco to get the kitchen going and set up some fires. We're going to need them when it gets dark."

May nodded and smiled at Malik who watched them all with a bewildered expression. Suddenly comprehension dawned and he looked up at Harry. "I've seen you on television," he stated.

Harry smiled at the boy, "That's right; I've been on TV a few times. Why don't you sit with Cheki and keep him company for now. I have a bunch of people to talk to, but I'm sure I'm going to need you to translate for me again."

Malik nodded and walked over to Chekiath. "Can I sit with you? You are a nice dragon right?"

Chekiath eyed the small boy for a moment, his eyes heavily streaked with green and yellow. Chekiath laid down, stretching his front paws out in front of him. _"Of course I'm a nice dragon, but all of us are nice. You can lean against my legs. And be careful of your shoulder."_

Harry chuckled, and then he turned and went over to talk to Lee Jordan. He wanted Lee to take some dragons and survey the city from the air. He knew Lee would be videotaping as much as possible and he'd also be able to show on a map where the worst spots were. Although Harry didn't see how anything could be worse than it already was. The city looked like it had been bombed.

Harry kept an eye on Chekiath and Malik as he directed his riders, but when the boy fell asleep Harry let Cheki watch over him until the medical staff arrived; then he brought a nurse over to check him out. Harry was worried that the shoulder might be broken.

He lost track of Malik after a nurse took him into the tent where they were setting up a portable x-ray machine.

For the riders this was one of the most grueling and heart breaking things they had ever done. Once the Red Cross people arrived and took over assembling the hospital and relief center, the dragons and their riders headed out into the city proper to help the search and rescue crews.

Their ability to sense people greatly hastened the search for trapped survivors. Occasionally the dragons would even get the chance to help move the rubble out of the way when the searchers thought it was safe. It wasn't uncommon to see a dragon moving a heavy beam or even lifting some large debris so that rescuers would crawl underneath it looking for survivors.

Nearly eighteen hours later Harry stumbled back into the field along with Bob Malwich. They had spent the day marking buildings that had people trapped. The day had been exhausting physically and emotionally. Despite his heavy gloves, his hands were raw and cut from tearing at loose rubble. Sometimes Cheki would stop by a house and tell him that the person inside was close to dying. He couldn't help himself then, he would tear at the rubble while shouting for others to help him. Normally he was supposed to wait for people who have been trained to extricate trapped victims.

He helped pull three people from the wreckage, but only one of them survived long enough to get medical attention. And the worst part was he would never know if the little old lady had survived or not. She was just another injury among thousands. He had lost count of the number of bodies he had seen, it was like his mind pushed it aside after the first dozen or so. He couldn't help the dead, but finding the living was something they could do.

Flood lights lit the field and the number of people astounded him. A set of tents had been set up for rescue workers to kip out in. Nearby a steady stream of military helicopters landed, unloaded rescue workers or material and loaded wounded then lifted off to head to hospitals that were in good shape.

Other than the field hospitals set up by the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, there wasn't a single operating hospital in the city of Izmit. The Red Crescent was still setting up, they had chosen a parking lot across the city which had to be cleared of damaged cars. In Harry's absence, Ronan had detailed a wing to move the cars out of the lot, and also bring in one of the four working bulldozers they had available.

Not too far from the makeshift helipad a steady stream of dragons arrived bringing containers which were quickly unloaded by volunteers from the uninjured survivors. Empty containers were then lifted by dragons to be returned for refilling. Campbeltown was moving supplies from over a dozen countries, as the scope of the disaster became known, the Red Cross asked the dragons to move more and more supplies from around the world.

The other Weyrs around the world joined the effort by moving material to central collection points where Campbeltown wings could pick them up. Harry would have asked them to help more directly, but space was limited and he already had over three hundred dragons helping in the affected region.

A veritable mountain of supplies was building up nearby and Rescue workers from ten countries handed out blankets and clothing at a frantic pace. Night had fallen and it was getting cold.

Harry averted his eyes away from the activity at the far end of the field. A temporary morgue was set up there and seemed to be doing more business than the field hospital. He had been informed in their disaster preparedness classes that as the day went on, there would be fewer injuries and more corpses. It was the grisly nature of major natural disasters.

Harry shuffled into one of the rest tents and an aid worker looked up and gave him a tired smile. "Would you like something to eat or just want a place to sleep for a bit?" asked the man.

Harry blinked owlishly at him and the man chuckled. "How about you lay down in bunk fifteen for a bit. I'll wake you in about four hours and have something ready for you to eat."

Harry nodded and let the man show him to a bunk and he collapsed into the bunk.

"_Sleep Harry, I'll be nearby,"_ Chekiath said softly.

Harry paused with his head just above the pillow. During the day he had lost track of what wing riders had been doing as they fanned out to find and mark places for rescuers to dig. "Is everyone alright mate?" he asked tiredly.

"_May and Hermione are sleeping in the other tent. Everyone is fine. Garanoth says Ronan had to order Luna to return to the Weyr several hours ago. She was quite upset."_

Harry blinked in surprise. _"Trandieth, is Luna still upset?"_ he sent silently.

"_The healer gave her a potion to sleep Weyrleader. She's sleeping now. All those hurt people upset her greatly,"_ replied the dragon up in Campbeltown.

Harry nodded to himself. Luna was a strange duck even among the riders and she had abilities that were hard to define. Her abilities with animals gave her a great deal of empathy and he could understand all the pain and hardship surrounding them upsetting her.

"Call me or Cheki if she's still upset in the morning. I'm sorry, I should have realized this would affect her," he muttered tiredly

"_You couldn't have known Weyrleader, even I didn't know it would bother her. But I'll call you if need be. Glamiath is also listening in for Jack"_

Harry nodded, Luna's Trandieth hadn't been picked as a consort yet by any dragon, but Jack Bruno's Glamiath seemed likely to win her over. Right now she was enjoying being the Weyr's free spirit too much. Jack and Luna had been together prior to their dragon's first shagging flight and it wasn't uncommon to see her with Jack.

"Right then, I'll just get some sleep," he murmured. "G'night Trandieth, Cheki."

He lowered his head against the pillow and sleep claimed him almost immediately. One of the rescue workers on a nearby bunk looked up from pulling his boots on and shook his head. "Poor bugger is talking to himself. We really need to start looking at the psychological effects disasters have on our people."

Nearly five hours later Harry woke slowly to the smell of someone waving hot coffee under his nose.

"You awake mate?" asked the man in charge of the tent. "I'm sorry to wake you, but we're short on beds and there are others that need to rest also. There's a plate with some sandwiches by the front table."

Harry sat up and nodded. "I'll be more awake after I have that coffee."

The man laughed and handed Harry the cup. He nodded in thanks and stood up. Nearby another man stood looking at Harry and the bed hopefully. He held some clean sheets in his hands.

Harry stepped away from the bed and muttered, "It's all yours," then he walked to the exit. He stopped only long enough to grab a sandwich and quickly down it.

"You awake Cheki?" he asked softly.

"_I haven't slept much Harry, it's too noisy with all the machines. I don't really like this place,"_ Cheki replied. _"There is so much hurt and unhappiness here."_

Harry grimaced and suppressed a chuckle. "I don't think anyone likes this place right now big guy even the people that grew up here. I'm sure it was much nicer before the earthquake."

"_I hope so,"_ Cheki said dubiously, _"Malik was here for a while, and then a man came by and took him away to one of the helicopter things. Malik says they contacted his mother and she would meet him at the hospital where they are taking the injured. I had May talk to Malik and get his information. He is a potential candidate when he comes of age."_

Harry nodded, he had suspected that Malik might be a possible rider candidate, but had pushed that aside. They were there to help with a disaster, not search for rider candidates. Turkey had no native dragons and there were no plans of creating a Weyr in the country. Malik would be listed in their roles and asked if he'd like to attempt impressing when he was old enough.

Harry sipped his coffee and stretched while he stood just outside of the tent. "Good enough, is there anything else?"

"_May and Hermione are off with a group that are checking out a village 20 miles from here. They were requesting help. And Lisa says that four riders received injuries trying to dig for survivors. She's sent them all back to the Weyr. The worst injury was Fred Hayes who broke his arm when a wall fell on him."_

"And the others?" Harry asked.

"_Lisa said two were bad cuts and one bad burn from a fire."_

Harry grunted sourly, burns were becoming an occupational hazard in the Weyr. A number of riders had received burns because they had gotten too close to dragons making hot rocks, or heating up other substances. Another source of burns came from part of their training which now included in-flight flaming. It was part of their defensive and weapons training. Occasionally a dragon would flame at the wrong angle and the rider would get badly singed before the dragon could correct the error.

Harry didn't bother to ask, he already knew that a rider had risked himself to rescue someone and had gotten burned for his efforts. He shook his head, but he really couldn't be angry, his own hands were cut and sore from attempting to dig people out from under the rubble. "Alright, ask Lisa to keep me informed. In the meantime I'm going over to the command tent to see what else we can do."

"_Alright Harry,"_ replied Cheki. _"Most of our wings are out helping, except for those sleeping in one of the tents."_

A large tent had been erected next to the field hospital. There were a dozen antennas sprouting from behind the tent and in front someone had rigged up a flag pole that held the Turkish national flag.

Harry grunted in acknowledgment to Cheki and stepped into the darkened interior of the command tent run jointly by the Turkish government and the relief organizations. Both the Red Crescent and the Red Cross had people present helping organize the relief efforts. A group of people were huddled over a table loaded with maps conversing quietly and in one corner a man spoke with someone using a short wave radio. Several televisions were on, but muted, playing out scenes from various locations in the disaster area. The interior of the tent was darkened and strangely quiet compared to the organized chaos outside.

Harry looked around, and then he spotted David Wilson, one of the British Red Cross representatives and the only person he recognized in the room. He stepped over to Wilson who was examining the maps with the others.

"We have to do something," someone said in a British accent. "What about the army? Can't they bulldoze a way through or something?"

Wilson shook his head. "The roadway is too unstable and the bridge is damaged. The aftershocks have damaged it even more and they are afraid to put too much weight on it. An army engineering unit is coming, but they won't be on the scene until the day after tomorrow and it will take weeks to repair the bridge if another aftershock doesn't knock it down first."

Harry stepped closer. "What's the problem?"

The men looked up in surprise and Wilson's expression turned to one of relief. "Weyrleader! Thank goodness, you and your dragons might just be able to solve our problem."

He pointed to a map. "This is the one operational road heading into Izmit. It was damaged but generally intact enough for light traffic and then an aftershock weakened it further. Now the bridge is not safe for any kind of traffic and we have a fifty truck convoy of potable water backed up on the other side of the bridge unable to proceed. The bridge isn't far, but with it being unsafe that water might as well be on the moon. We need to bring in that water, bottled water isn't adequate for all our needs."

Harry looked down at the map. "Is the road on the other side of the bridge safe for the trucks?"

"Yes, it's just this bridge that is blocking the convoy. There have been a number of aftershocks and one of the Army engineers says the bridge is in danger of collapse if we put too much of a load on it. An army engineering unit is rushing to the area that can effect repairs, but they won't be here for few days. And even when they do arrive it will take a week or more to stabilize the bridge for heavy traffic."

"_Many of our wings are already busy with rescue duties Harry,"_ Chekiath cautioned. Several of the men in the tent suddenly looked up in surprise.

Harry nodded and then he glanced towards one wall of the tent. "Cheki, is Division four still idle?"

"_Yes Harry, they are still in the Weyr."_

"Alert them. I'll be sending them jump imagery in a short while. Once that's done, meet me outside the tent and we'll follow the road until we find the convoy," Harry said.

"_I'll be right there."_

Harry turned back to Wilson and smiled. "We'll move your trucks for you."

Several men exchanged relieved looks. An older man who wore military uniform bowed to Harry. "Allah's blessing on you and your dragons Weyrleader. Turkey is grateful for your help and your friendship."

Harry bowed slightly to the man. "The Weyr is dedicated to protecting mankind sir. It is our duty and our honor to be able to help."

He turned and strode from the tent. The others seemed struck dumb by Harry's words and it was impossible to ignore the sound of huge wings flapping as Chekiath came to an easy landing in front of the command tent.

The old man turned to Wilson and gave him a tight smile. "I was skeptical when your country announced the existence of dragons. But I have heard the stories of dragons helping save lives and have seen for myself their ability to move huge quantities of material. Some nations think that Allah would not approve of such beings, but I think they are very wrong. Your nation blessed the world when you gave us such friends."

Wilson smiled at the Minister of the Interior and personal representative of the Turkish President. "Sir I couldn't agree more with you. The dragons and their riders ask only one thing in return. They want to be friends, and to be treated as equals."

The Interior Minister nodded thoughtfully. "I will tell this to my government. If I have my way, dragons and their riders will be welcome within our borders from now on."

Wilson smiled encouragingly, then he turned back to the map as the discussion turned to the more somber topic of setting up a site for a mass grave.

**Campbeltown Weyr, August ****25****th****, 1999...**

An exhausted Harry slid down from his position and dropped to the tarmac. Division one was the last group of dragons to leave the disaster zone and he was glad to be home. He looked forward to a long hot soak in his tub and an uninterrupted night's sleep in his own bed.

"Welcome home."

Harry glanced up to see Lord Mills standing nearby. "Welcome home Harry."

Harry smiled tiredly at the man. "Thanks James, but I hope you don't have any pressing business. Right now all I want to do is crawl into a bath and a bed."

James chuckled. "No, no pressing business lad, but I was wondering if you've spoken much with Lee in the past few days?"

Harry's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "No. Should I have?"

James chuckled and shook his head. "You know Harry; you are just about the only person I know that almost never watches the telly."

Harry frowned. "James, I've been a bit busy to worry about what's on the telly."

James held up a hand placatingly. "I know lad, and your Lee has been recording every second of it and then sharing it with the world press. The earthquake was a disaster and the world viewed the disaster from the back of a dragon. We've been getting mail by the ton since Lee started sharing his video feed with the BBC. They watched as Luna had to return to the Weyr in tears, and watched when Jack Bruno pulled that infant from under the rubble. They saw your tears when one person you pulled from under buildings was dead and they saw dragons pulling carts with drums of drinking water through devastated streets. In short the world saw dragons in a whole new light and you've advanced your cause by an inestimable amount."

Harry smiled tiredly. "That's great James, and maybe tomorrow we can see how we can use the good publicity to our benefit. Right now all I want is a bath and a bed."

"Us too," Hermione said from behind him.

Harry swiveled his head and smiled at her and May. May stepped closer and looped her arm with his. "Sorry James, but I stink and I want to do something about it. Come on Harry, you're getting ripe also." Showers had been available at the relief camp, but it had been nearly three days since Harry had a chance to do more than wash his hands and face.

"And you need a shave," Hermione offered.

Harry had a tendency towards a heavy five o'clock shadow and after nearly a week without shaving he had a respectable start on a heavy beard.

Harry nodded and followed the two girls as they led him towards their quarters. James shook his head in amazement, but he couldn't fault the riders. They had spent the last week working a grueling schedule while he remained here in Scotland and saw the outpouring of world wide support for dragon-kind flood in.

The rescue effort was still ongoing in Turkey and it would take years for the region to recover, but the dragons had done their part while the world watched. James turned and headed for his office in the administration building, he still had more mail to deal with before he could present it to Harry and the others.

**Irtysh river Weyr, Central Russia, September 10th, 1999...**

Irina Clasovich settled to the ground and stepped off her broom. She stretched and looked around for a moment, just taking in the scenery. It was the bank of the Irtysh river. In this area the river had cut a path between some hills. She stood on a sandy open spot but most of the river banks were stony fields that made footing treacherous.

She listened for a moment but heard nothing to indicate any dragons, or any wildlife for that matter. She reached into her robes and withdrew a wand and cast a few spells then she frowned at the results.

According to her map, the old dragon reserve should be somewhere nearby. The Weyr was unplottable, but in the ministry records, there existed a single small map which contained its location. The Weyr had been erased from the map, but since the map covered such a small region it was possible she could find the wards by doing random spot checks like she was doing now. This was her twentieth casting of the morning.

She cast a stronger sensor spell and it immediately pinged back, signaling there was a heavily warded area nearby. She frowned at her wand, as one of the Ministry of Magic top warding specialists she was unused to getting such a vague reading from her detection spell. There was a ward was nearby, but the spell failed to show a direction. Only the most powerful wards could confuse her sensor spell like this.

Small specks appeared over the hilltop and made their way towards her at high speed. The Ministry wanted to locate the old reserve and they wanted desperately to capture several dragons. The fact that there was a large warded area nearby suggested that the dragons were still here, now it was Irina's job to find them and break down the wards.

She was still casting when twenty more wizards arrived on broom and came to a landing nearby. She nodded to the lead Auror of the ten man squad, then she turned to her assistant. The aurors were armed with weapons similar to strangler globes which the ministry hoped would allow the small force to subdue the beasts.

Originally the plan had been for a force of more than two hundred Aurors, but the ministry felt that a force that size was too easily detectable.

"Katarina, we're going to need to set up a ritual circle. There is a warded zone nearby, but it's obviously unplottable."

"Da Senior Warder Clasovich," replied the small blond woman.

Irina smiled, Katarina was close to becoming her apprentice, she had a lot of talent, but her taste in men was the only thing holding Irina back from taking her under her wing. She preferred her apprentices female and willing bed partners.

Irina turned to the Aurors. "Senior Auror, there is a heavily warded area nearby. I think we are very close to the original site of the reserve and there are dragons here still. Warn your men to be cautious and to keep an eye out, the ability to apparate means the dragons can be on us without warning."

The Auror nodded gravely. He had two different jobs here and he didn't like that. He was supposed to capture some dragons, his men had been practicing with the weapons for that purpose, and his second task was to protect the Ministry's best warding team. The ministry didn't have many ward breakers and these were the very best mother Russia had.

Katarina stepped over to a flat stretch of sand along the river and began to cast the spells needed to prepare the area for a ritual circle.

Feynith turned towards Chekiath. Both dragons sat on a nearby hilltop while Harry observed the wizards below. A few feet away from the two senior dragons sat Ronan and the other divisional leaders of Campbeltown.

"_This is troublesome Weyrleader,"_ Feynith observed.

"_It is,"_ Harry replied silently. He scowled heavily, it was obvious that the wizards were getting ready to make an attempt at the wards. This was a problem that he had been expecting for a while, but now that it was upon them, he wasn't sure what do to about it.

"_What should we do Weyrleader? We can take them Between,"_ Feynith offered.

"_No, I don't think I want us to kill if we can avoid it,"_ Harry replied. _"__If we kill these, they will be back in greater numbers."_

"_Weyrleader, Ronan says his __wing__ has spotted __eight__ Russian fighters about one hundred miles from here,"_ Garanoth announced.

"Damn," Harry swore under his breath, then he sent a command to the dragons. _"Division leaders, let's return to Irtysh where we can discuss this."_

The group of dragons leapt skyward and vanished in a blast of frigid air while the unsuspecting Russians continued to work down on the riverbank just a few hundred feet from the Weyr.

A few moments later Harry slid down from his spot on Cheki and walked over to where the division leaders were congregating.

Harry turned to Ronan. "What's this about Russian fighters?"

Ronan nodded. "I don't think it's a coincidence Harry. A group of Mig-31 Foxhounds are doing lazy circles as if they are waiting for something. These things cost too much money to be up there for a early morning flight. From what I saw I think they are fully armed for air to air combat."

Harry looked down and dug a toe into the dirt while he thought about that.

"It's possible," he said slowly, as if he was still ordering his thoughts. "that the jets are there to support the wizards. If that's the case then the Russians are finally making a move against us. How long would it take for those jets to arrive?"

"On after-burner, just a few minutes," Ronan replied.

Harry nodded and glanced around the Weyr. All around there were the dragons of Irtysh river Weyr watching him and listening intently.

Harry sighed and then he turned to Feynith. "Feynith, if we attack those wizards we risk starting a conflict with Russian mundane government. I don't want to start a war with anyone if we can avoid it."

He bent down and scooped up a stone which he sent flying towards the nearby river. It was obvious to everyone that he was angry. "Damn I hate to do this, but I think the smartest thing to do is to evacuate the Weyr."

Feynith bowed his head, _"Are you sure Weyrleader? We have lived here for many turns. __This is our home.__"_

Harry walked over to the large horntail and gently ran a hand along his neck. "My friend, you know we would not hesitate to fight for your right to live here. But this is not the time for that fight. Someday perhaps you'll be able to return here. In the meantime the Weyrs will help your clan get settled in a new home."

Harry paused and smiled as he remembered something. "In fact I might have just the place already picked out. If all goes well you'll find yourself jumped to the top of the list to become a manned Weyr."

Feynith turned to stare at Harry in amazement and a number of the local dragons reared up on their hind legs and trumpeted their happiness. All of the unmanned Weyrs wanted to transition to manned Weyrs, but they also realized it wasn't as simple as just bringing riders to live with them.

Converting to a manned Weyr took searching for candidates, and setting up proper housing, it took money, time, training and supplies. The money was becoming easier by the day as the manned Weyrs earned their keep, but searching could only be done by bonded riders and dragons and the Weyr needed approval from the country where the search was taking place.

Irtysh River Weyr had always been far down on the list of Weyrs to transition to a manned one because Harry knew they wouldn't easily get the approval of the Russian government. Harry had hoped that tensions with Russia would have eased by the time they were ready to search for riders here.

Now it was necessary to remove the Weyr from Russia, and that opened them up to take advantage of an opportunity that he had to turn down just a month prior.

Harry smiled at the happy dragons. "We'll go to Campbeltown for now. I have some phone calls to make."

Just over a mile away Irina Clasovich paused in her preparations. It was impossible to miss the sound of so many dragons bellowing.

"On guard!" shouted the lead Auror. His team scattered looking for cover while he motioned for Irina and her small team of warders to mount their brooms and flee.

Irina frowned and shook her head. "Nyet," she spat. "We will finish this."

The lead Auror swore to himself then nodded unhappily. He signaled his men to scan the skies for dragon attack, then he reached for the strange machine he had been given. It was ultra-simple. Just a single button on a small cigarette pack sized box with a two inch long antenna. He was told that pressing the button would summon the muggle military.

He stabbed the button and then he joined his men, watching the sky.

Nearly one hundred miles away six MIG fighters turned and engaged their after-burners.

**Campbeltown Weyr, September 10th, 1999...**

Harry came out of Between over the Weyr. Chekiath bellowed and the Irtysh River Weyr dragons fell into a loose formation behind him.

"_Feynith you and your clan can follow me down,"_ Chekiath called.

"_Thank you Chekiath,"_ replied the senior Russian dragon.

"Cheki, is Albert Ford in the Weyr today?" asked Harry.

"_Norendrath says he's in a meeting with Smelly Dog, Sheep Guy and some people from Turkey hold,"_ Cheki replied.

Harry smiled at his dragon's words. The first time they called a country a hold it created a lot of confusion, but by now the riders were used to the dragons and their insistence to apply Pern terms to Earth. On Pern there were Holds like Benden and Fort which in turn had smaller holds within them, owing allegiance to the Lord Holder. Here, there were still Lord Holders even if they were called Presidents and Prime Ministers and to the dragons, their country was just a hold like Fort or Bol or Ruatha.

"Please ask Albert to contact me when he has a chance," Harry asked. He didn't want to break into what Albert was doing. The delegation from Turkey had arrived on a fact finding mission about the possibility of replacing some of the damaged power stations with dragon powered power stations. It was an outgrowth of their effort to help Turkey after the disastrous earthquake.

"_Of course Harry."_

He slid down from his position and walked over to where Dronth waited with Feynith. "Dronth, we'll put up Irtysh River here for a while. If all goes well, I hope we'll have a place to move them to. We'll need to reschedule our search to cover more territory so you might want to let Trandieth know about that."

Harry smiled reassuringly at Feynith who watched Harry with wide eyes. _"Searching for... us?"_ asked the large dragon.

"If we can arrange it Feynith. Finland had been talking to us about the possibility of having a manned Weyr and I had to brush them off. Now you need a home and they want a Weyr. At the time I didn't have the dragons to offer them nor did I think you would run into this problem so I had to put them off."

He paused when his mobile phone rang, and then he held up a hand to the large dragon while he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Al, good. Listen can you contact your friend in the Finnish Ministry?" he asked.

"Yes I know what we told them, but I had to relocate the Russian Weyr and now they need a home. Finland wouldn't be all that different than what they are used to."

Harry paused and listened for a moment longer.

Harry shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Look Al I'm not trying to make your job harder. When we told Finland no, it was because we didn't have the dragons to establish a new Weyr. That changed today. I had two options, evacuate the Weyr or start a war with Russia. I had Russian ward breakers attacking our wards and flight of Russian fighters backing them up. What would you have me do?" Harry asked plaintively.

There was a moment of silence from the phone, then Al spoke in a calmer tone. Harry listened for a moment and smiled. "Excellent Al, I'll leave it in your hands until we're ready to move Irtysh."

Harry pressed a button on the phone and placed it in the bulky belt holder then he turned back to the two dragons. "Albert Ford is a great help to the Weyr, but he dislikes surprises," he said with a smile. "With a little luck you and your clan will have a new home to move into soon Feynith. For now, Campbeltown welcomes you, please accept our hospitality. Tinny!"

Tinny, the head elf appeared with a small pop. "You called Mister Harry?"

"Yes please speak with Dronth and Feynith and help them get set up. We'll need to erect those temporary shelters we bought."

The little elf nodded vigorously, causing his ears to flap.

"I need to call a Weyrleader's council," Harry muttered mostly to himself.

"_Go Weyrleader, Tinny and I will see to Feynith and his clan,"_ Dronth said.

Harry nodded absently and started to walk away, his mind already considering the Weyr's next steps.

"_The Weyrleader doesn't stay still for long does he?"_ observed Feynith.

"_He wouldn't be Weyrleader if he stood still,"_ Dronth replied. _"Come Feynith, let us see to your clan."_

**Irtysh River Weyr, Central Russia, September 10th, 1999...**

Irina Clasovich dropped to her knees in exhaustion. She wearily looked at her team and shook her head in amazement. Most of her warding team were unconscious, drained nearly to death, but they had succeeded.

The last hour had been the most dangerous as the wards snapped and crackled with power. The Aurors had been expecting the dragons to attack during that hour, but no attack materialized.

In the distance she could make out the last disintegrating wards of the Weyr, crumbling before her eyes. The wards were incredibly powerful and it had taken her whole team helping to bring them to this point. Even from this distance she could smell the thick ozone and brimstone smell of a failing ward.

"Team one forward!" shouted the senior Auror nervously. There had been no response from the dragons and that made him uneasy. It had taken four solid hours of effort from the warders to break down those wards and except for the sound of dragons bellowing many hours ago, there had been no sign of dragons.

Irina watched as four aurors cautiously moved forward while the others covered them and the warding team. Overhead the four pair of fighters circled lazily, watching and waiting for the dragons to take to the air. They were eagerly waiting for an opportunity to engage with a dragon, confident that their superior technology would prevail.

A member of team one ran back to the senior Auror and spoke to the man in an urgent tone. The senior auror grimaced and glanced at the warding team then he strode up the hill in the direction that team one had gone.

"What is it Mischka?" asked one Auror to the team one member.

"The dragons, they are gone, fled the reserve."

"Nyet!," Irina Clasovich groaned and closed her eyes. She didn't even feel herself hitting the ground as she slipped into unconsciousness, her last thought was a simple exclamation of _'all that work for nothing!'._

**Weyrleader's Council Meeting, Campbeltown Weyr, September 11th, 1999...**

Harry waited until all of the Weyrleaders had filed into the room, then he nodded to Sirius who opened a different door to allow Albert Ford and Lord Mills to enter. There were five manned Weyrs now and the Weyrleaders filed in followed by their seconds looking surprised at Harry's call for an emergency meeting.

Harry nodded in greeting to the others then he looked over at Hermione who was setting up a dicta-quill to record the meeting. She glanced up at him and smiled to signal she was ready. It was part of her job to keep an official record of these meetings. After each meeting she condensed the meeting decisions down into a list for Harry to add to his to-do book.

"Thank you all for coming. I know this wasn't our regularly scheduled meeting but believe me when I say it was necessary for us to meet. I have also invited Lord Mills and Albert Ford to attend this meeting. Lord Mills as the British liaison and Albert because I feel his insight would prove useful," Harry stated calmly.

He paused and waited for a moment. English was the language that they used for these meetings, but he knew that in at least two cases, dragons were supplying translation help to their riders. Isikara Yuko of Sakushima Weyr and Alfhild Gustavson of Svartvatn Weyr were both still working on improving their understanding of English.

When they nodded, Harry continued. "Yesterday I was forced to order the evacuation of Irtysh river Weyr from central Russia. Feynith contacted me when the Weyr patrol spotted a group of broom riders criss-crossing the region as if they were looking for something. Shortly after we arrived at the Weyr, the Russian wizards were busy setting up a ritual to drain the wards after detecting the wards."

Harry turned to James and Albert. "Wards are a form of magical protection, but like a wall or a fence, they can be detected even if you can't see what they are protecting. The Russians detected the presence of the wards, and not the Weyr proper. And once they detected the wards, a team of wizards started to tear them down."

The Weyrleaders were a mix of mundane and magical, but they all understood that draining the wards which protected each Weyr was a hostile act.

Harry paused and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, he absently noted the angry looks among his Weyrleaders. "Had it been only wizards we might have tried to scare them off, but weren't alone. There was a flight of Russian fighter jets nearby. Rather than risk creating an incident with Russia I ordered the Weyr to evacuate to Campbeltown. Shortly after we evacuated, the fighters arrived and took up station near the wizards according to the dragon we left to watch the area."

Lobsang leaned forward in his chair, his brow knitted in concern. "Can Campbeltown support the additional dragons?"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "For a short time we can. Irtysh river brought some two hundred and ninety additional dragons. I've spoken with Karen this morning and she's placing orders for additional livestock, but we're not prepared to support the extra mouths for long. Fortunately we may have a solution to the problem of what to do with Irtysh River dragons.

"Last month I spoke personally with Paavo Lipponen, the prime minister of Finland and told him there was no way we could arrange to create a manned Weyr in his country at that time. That was then and Irtysh River was supposedly secure then. Now things have changed and we have nearly three hundred dragons that need a new home. That's why I asked Al to attend today's meeting. A month ago the conditions were against opening a manned Weyr in Finland. If the Finnish government is still willing, we can move the dragons in and begin a search in time for the November hatching."

"Harry?"

"Yes Al?"

Albert Ford popped open a small folder and glanced down at it briefly while he spoke. "I spoke this morning with the Finnish Ambassador to Great Britain and sounded him out on the idea. He was surprised at first, but once I made him aware of what had happened he immediately cabled his superiors. Prime Minister Lipponen is still eager to open up a Weyr in his country. He has a site already in mind, but asks for some of our people to come survey the site and tell them what they need to do to make it usable. From what I understand it's located in North Karelia and would share space with a small commercial airfield called Joensuu.

"I haven't seen the sight myself except for a handful of photos, but I have been told that the airfield is adjacent to a heavily wooded area and the government is willing to allow the Weyr to expand into that area. They are willing to put up some five thousand acres for the Weyr, and more could be made available if necessary."

Albert stood and unrolled a large map of the region with the proposed site circled. Harry noted it wasn't that far from the Russian border.

Harry nodded. "Excellent Al, speak to Draco about taking a hop over there to survey the site. I'll speak to Luna today about beginning a search for candidates."

Al Ford grinned returned to his chair to make a note in his file.

"What's your read on the Russian's Al? You've dealt with them before." asked Skip Taylor, one of the Condron Weyrleaders.

Al frowned and leaned back in his chair and glanced over at Harry who nodded encouragingly. "Russia and the Russian mindset appears to most westerners as hard to fathom, but if you understand their history you would understand that they have a deep seated need to defend their lands. They have been victims of external attacks that they have barely beaten back several times. And at great cost to themselves I might add. Both Hitler and Napoleon cost the Russians dearly, it was a lesson they've taken to heart. Because of that they are willing to do whatever it takes to defend themselves even if that means attacking first."

Al paused and pulled his pipe from his pocket. He didn't light it, but instead used it almost as if he needed a pointer. It was an inside joke of the Weyr, that Albert Ford never actually smoked the pipe that he carried. "We know that the dragons do not represent a threat on a national scale to anyone. We don't have an army of dragons and even if we did, the world would not sit by idly and allow us to conquer some nation."

"_We wouldn't do that!"_ Chekiath said in outrage. Several other dragons bellowed outside in outrage.

Harry chuckled softly. "Easy Cheki, Al is just trying to illustrate a point. Go on Al," he said.

Al nodded. "If we look at this from a slightly different angle everything changes. We can appear to be a threat to the oil and natural gas selling nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia. I have heard some grumblings coming from OPEC circles about the Danes who reduced their natural gas imports from Russia by slightly less than one percent.

"One percent didn't seem like much when I first heard about it, but another source within the Danish ministry told me that amounted to nearly a quarter billion Euros savings over a three year period. The Danes are excited about their new power plant and are accelerating the construction of new plants. Two new plants are planned to be built this year in their country and they have contracted to build one in Germany. Additionally they are looking to close down one aging nuclear plant and two gas fired plants. My sources tell me that closing those additional gas plants will decrease their dependency on Russian gas by three percent."

Skip shook his head. "This is getting confusing."

Harry turned to Skip. "The more plants that are built, the less natural gas and oil Russia and the other OPEC nations can sell. That threatens the Russian economy as much as any invasion would," Harry said quietly. "I don't know how much Russia relies on those exports, but I know they spent a lot of money to build a special pipeline into Western Europe. If enough countries switch over to Dragon power it could push them into economic ruin."

Albert Ford nodded in approval. "So you do see the problem?" he pressed.

"I do," Harry admitted, "and frankly I don't see a solution to it as long as the Russians are hostile to us. If they weren't so against us, we'd be willing to work with them to help them through this problem."

Al grunted softly, he had to agree with Harry. If there was a solution it would have to wait until Russia wasn't hostile to dragon-kind.

"Weyrleader?"

Harry turned to Alfhild. "Alf, please, it's just Harry."

The tall Norwegian grinned, he had a blindingly white smile and an infectious laugh that made him very popular among his riders. "Harry," he said a bit haltingly. "We, no I, would like to offer to train up the first wings for Finnish Weyr. They are neighbors no? It would relieve Campbeltown of the need."

Harry glanced around and saw that no one had any objections so he raised the only possible point of problem for Svartvatn Weyr. Everyone knew Alf was talking about the training that occurred after the new wings were released by the Weyrling masters at Disko.

"Are you sure you'll have space Alf? I thought you were having problems with housing?" Harry asked.

Alf brushed one of his long blond locks from his face and grimaced slightly. "Is true, but situation is getting better. We have lots of machines and people building good strong buildings with many dragon beds. Dragons don't like the noise, but they do like their sand beds and their Gilligan's Island on television."

The other Weyrleaders grinned at each other. Dragons had a love of classic television and invariably they seemed to become fascinated with the old Gilligan's Island show from the 1960s. Even Maziang was taking advantage of it now that they owned one of the first truck portable power generators.

Svartvatn's other issues had been overcome with the construction of a huge dock to offload construction equipment and a ferry. As an island it wasn't developed at all prior to creating a Weyr there, the Norwegian government built the dock and a road inland to the Weyr, they had been eager to convert the Weyr to a manned Weyr. In fact it had been the Norwegian government's offer to build the dock and road that convinced Harry to allow the Weyr to be established. Normally Harry wanted a Weyr that had easy access to local towns so that the Weyr could purchase supplies. Once the island had that small port built, they had their access.

The Weyr had the characteristic military look with it's blocky barrack-like buildings, but they were suitable and there was plenty of space to add the dragon friendly designed apartments.

The Svartvatn ferry at first had provided easy access for the construction workers and building supplies, but a few intrepid individuals had constructed businesses and homes near the dock and a small town was springing up around the small port facility, supplying the Weyr with goods from the mainland and keeping the construction workers fed. One construction company helped expand the town by building temporary housing for its workers.

Svartvatn was starting to generate it's own income stream by supplying a steady stream of heated rocks for use in specially designed space heaters and small generators. The Weyr was already working closely with the Norwegian Coastal Service and had participated in several search and rescue missions.

Norway's first Hot Rock powered power station was under construction, but was still more than a year away from being ready. All in all, Svartvatn was exactly where Harry had hoped it would be, at the start of what would be a long and prosperous life.

"I don't see a problem with it Alf," Harry said, "once the trainee wings are released by Hagrid they can split their time between Svartvatn for training and getting established at Joensuu," Harry said. He was thankful for Alf's offer because Campbeltown was already slated to provide similar services to the other United Kingdom Weyr, Shetland Island.

Given it's location and proximity to a World Heritage site, it had been decided to relocate that Weyr from Mousa island to the big island of Shetland, just south of Leebiten. In fact, Campbeltown had purchased the farm that had been the spot were the HMS Orkney had been laid to rest. Buying several more of the surrounding farms gave ample space to the dragons, and a place for Campbeltown to plan and build a new Weyr.

Harry turned to Lord Mills next. "Lord Mills, by now no doubt you've informed your Prime Minister of what transpired. I would appreciate it if we can get some information from your government. Specifically I am concerned with Joensuu's location. The proposed site is less than fifty miles from the Finnish/Russian border. Once the Weyr goes public, will we risk reprisals from the Russians? Should I ask Minister Lipponen for a site further from the border? Should we warn the Fins about the friction with Russia?"

James hastily scribbled some notes down as he listened to Harry, then when he was done he looked up. "Fifty miles doesn't seem like much to a dragon who can go from London to Tokyo in less than a minute, but it is a considerable distance in diplomatic terms. Any Russian sizable incursion to a depth of fifty miles would be seen by the Finnish as an act of war," he said thoughtfully. "You are asking the right questions, which unfortunately I can't answer. I will say this, when I spoke with Prime Minister Blair this morning he was greatly relieved by your actions. I can easily see him making some inquiries for the Weyr. Shall I coordinate with Albert?"

Harry glanced over at Ford and slowly shook his head. "No, Al is swamped with commercial negotiations and Weyr agreements. I'm glad he was able to use his contacts to see if Finland will accept us, but he's got enough to keep him busy. I will personally handle this until I can turn the Weyr over to an approved Weyrleader, also I'll speak with Sirius about visiting Joensuu and setting up a patrol even before it's manned," Harry replied slowly.

Albert Ford shot Harry a grateful look, he was very busy and wasn't looking forward to dealing with these additional issues since they mainly dealt with Weyr security.

"Very well Harry, I'll contact the Prime Minister's office and see if we can get you some answers," James said.

Harry smiled in thanks and turned back to other Weyrleaders. "This latest development is troubling. Check your commercial contracts, lets make sure Russia isn't being supplied with any dragon products. I think we should add them to the prohibited list."

The prohibited list was very short, and well known. It currently contained only a handful of countries that were openly hostile to dragons. Iran, Iraq and North Korea led off the list when Harry first created it. Since then only one other country had been added to the list, Saudi Arabia. The existence of the list was met with dismay by some world governments and outrage by others. The Weyrleader didn't add to that list without a valid reason. Harry's response to the outrage was simple. The Weyrs would not have anything to do with countries that made public proclamations of hostility.

James looked up in alarm. "Er, Harry? Are you sure you want to take that step?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't see what choice we have James. There were wizards and fighter planes involved and working together yesterday. That says the Russian government was making a move on us."

"You don't know that for sure," James protested. Placing Russia on the list of prohibited countries would be a provocative move on the Weyr's part.

"_Actually he does Sheep Guy,"_ Chekiath interjected. _"As we evacuated the weyr yesterday those planes turned and headed straight to Irtysh river."_

Harry gestured towards James. James' expression soured, he knew Chekiath couldn't lie, so he had to accept the dragon's statement. The presence of the fighters could have been a coincidence, but to alter course and head straight to the Weyr said it was a coordinated effort. He made another notation to stress the seriousness of the situation to the Prime Minister.

Lobsang leaned forward in his chair. His Weyr was prospering, supplying dragon heated rocks to China and other dragon products to India and southeast Asia. "Weyrleader, the safety of our dragons and riders must come first. I agree with the prohibition of goods to Russia. However at some point we should get together to decide how a country can be removed from the list. I do not believe it can be as simple as accepting someone's word although it pains me to say that. In my country a man's word was a measure of his honor, but it seems that countries operate on different rules."

Harry smiled at his fellow Weyrleader. Lobsang was a lot like Harry, growing up as a strong leader. He nodded and glanced over to Hermione who had already recorded Lobsang's suggestion. "I think that's an excellent idea Lobsang, let's make that an item for our next meeting. I hate putting countries on that list and really hope that someday we can remove them from the list."

He paused and looked around. "Does anyone have anything else to add?"

"I do," Kat said quietly. "I think it's important that you order the Irtysh river dragons to avoid their old hunting grounds and Weyr."

Harry looked at the co-leader of Condron and slowly nodded. It made sense and he didn't want a dragon returning to the old region which could result in an incident. "Feynith, have you been listening in?" he asked. He was certain the Irtysh river senior dragon was on the roof with Cheki and Dronth.

"_Yes Weyrleader, is it your command that we not return to our old homes and hunting grounds?"_

Harry sighed and he leaned against the table. He glanced around at the sour expressions on the other Weyrleaders. No one liked putting restrictions on their friends and he was the only one that could. The other leaders recognized that Harry held the absolute loyalty of the dragons. It was a rare thing for Harry to invoke his absolute authority and he only did it when he felt he had no choice in the matter.

So far Harry had only over-ridden a Weyrleader once and that had been when the Condron Weyrleaders were bickering among themselves shortly after the weyr had been established.

Harry rubbed his chin silently for a moment longer. "I'm sorry Feynith, but I don't see anyway around this. We do not want to fight the Russians. In a matter of weeks you'll have a new home to move into and soon after that, riders of your own," he said tiredly.

There was a long moment of silence that confused the non-riders in the room as the three senior dragons conversed among themselves.

"_It has been our home for many many turns Weyrleader. But the promise of riders is worth the sacrifice. Irtysh river does not wish to be the cause of conflict,"_ Feynith said finally. "Perhaps in the future Irtysh river can be a Weyr again. It is a good place to Weyr."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Harry relaxed against the table. "Thank you Feynith, please pass the message to your clan to avoid the old hunting grounds and Weyr. Soon you will have your own Weyr again, and riders of your own. Thank your clan for me."

Harry turned to the others. "Thank you for coming today," he said quietly. "Your support and advice is very important. This is the main reason why we have the Weyrleader's council."

Skip Taylor looked up from where he was helping Kat shrug into her flight jacket and shot Harry a wide grin. "Hey Harry, we may get the big bucks, but you're still the quarterback calling the plays."

Lobsang chuckled softly and shook his head. He liked the American Weyrleaders, but he really didn't understand them very well. "My strange friend speaks truly Weyrleader. In a way I consider us blessed, you want our advice and help. Another might want to keep all authority to himself."

The others nodded in agreement. Harry set policy for the Weyrs at a very high level and allowed each Weyrleader control over their own Weyr. Harry blushed while the others chuckled and made ready to leave.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, October 5th 1999...**

"And so our projected sales are expected to be down by as much as two percent. We have offset some of that loss by offering a discount to select nations, but what was a rumor is now a trend. If this continues in twenty years it will cost more to extract the gas and ship it overseas than we will gain from the purchases," said the Energy Minister.

"And what of our Saudi friends?" asked the President.

"They report a similar downturn," replied the Energy minister. "On the other hand, we have noted both the British and American oil conglomerates taking steps to offset potential losses. The London stock exchange saw BP's stock rise by four percent when they announced a diversification effort that included a research and manufacturing contract with the dragons."

"What of the other OPEC nations?" the Finance minister demanded.

The Minister for Energy shrugged his shoulders. "Comrad... friends, you know as well as I that most of the OPEC nations are inherently our competitors, they do not willingly share much information. On the other hand I have had frequent talks with my counterpart in the Saudi government. When you filter out the religious rhetoric you get a feel that they are scared and getting desperate. Their economy relies more on oil than ours does. These new power plants could easily bankrupt them in a few decades."

The President nodded sourly and turned to his Minister for State Security. "What of the dragons that live on our soil?"

Mishka Danakov scowled. "Regrettably I believe someone betrayed us in our attempt to locate them. They knew we were coming and were prepared. The dragons have evacuated and our sources in Finland suggest they may have been given sanctuary there."

Around the room many of the minister's frowned deeply. Finland was a long time enemy of Russia. They had a long and bloody history and the Fins had turned out to be formidable adversaries. No Russian soldier wanted to fight the Fins if they could avoid it.

Danakov glanced down at a piece of paper briefly. "There has been a pronounced increase in dragon activity and while the government hasn't yet formally announced anything. I am informed that they will soon announce the creation of a 'Weyr' based close to a civilian airfield, some eighty five kilometers from the border.

"In the meantime we have arrested fourteen who we suspect of informing the dragons of our plans," Danakov concluded. Danakov would never admit that their mission had failed because the dragons spotted them coming, instead he opted to punish the teams involved by claiming they have tipped off the dragons, thus shifting the blame off him and his organizations.

The various ministers around the table nodded. They understood that the fourteen would be tried in secret and probably executed quietly to protect the State from an embarrassing public trial over what had been a secret mission in the first place.

"Might I offer a suggestion?"

All eyes turned to the Foreign minister.

"It seems to me that a problem shared is a problem lessened. We know of several countries which are not happy with the introduction of dragons and their power plants. Might we not form some sort of coalition in order to combat this problem jointly?"

The President leaned forward in his chair. "Are you suggesting we openly attack dragons?"

The Foreign minister waved his hand, dismissing the President's comment. "Not at all or at least not yet. What I am suggesting is that we can delay and perhaps halt construction of these power plants by employing subversive elements within each country's society."

Everyone turned to Danakov who held the position of Minister for State Security as well as Minister of Magic.

"A covert operation is possible, but I must warn you, we are hampered by the fact that most of our best operatives fled the country. What we have remaining are merely competent," Danakov prevaricated.

Everyone nodded knowingly, it was true across most of the ministries that with the collapse of the Soviet Union most of their best people left for better paying jobs in the private sector or fled to avoid prosecution for crimes they committed under the old Soviet government.

"But it is doable?" pressed the President.

"It is, but like my esteemed colleague suggested, co-opting others to actually perform the work will reduce our risks," Danakov replied.

The President leaned back in his chair and appeared to be thinking deeply. In fact he was listening to what he thought was his own inner monologue, never realizing that Danakov was using legilmency on him.

"Very well then, let us try that. In the meantime let us also explore the possibility of finding other nations that might be willing to join with us against this threat," the President said finally.

"I will speak with the Saudi ambassador as soon as possible," offered the Foreign Minister.

The President smiled approvingly, then he turned back to his Energy Minister. "From here on I want weekly reports on our gas exporting and sales," he ordered.

The Energy minister nodded with a bit of relief evident in his expression. He knew his job was in danger and the fact that the country was taking steps still wouldn't protect his job. He would just be another scapegoat should the situation continue to worsen.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries...**

* Well the last chapter seemed to touch a nerve among a number of people. Mostly people enjoyed what they read, but a fringe group complained that I didn't include more religions etc... I'm only going to say that the story has Hermione as a Catholic, May as a member of the Church of Scotland and Harry represents no one. So they would only converse about the two religions that the girls were involved in and the ONE religion that offered them a solution to their marriage problem.

I was born into a catholic family, went to catholic grade school taught by nuns and attended a catholic high school taught by monks. I know full well how American Catholics nod their heads at Rome and still go about living their lives the way they want to. I know full well how the church is full of old men running the show and highly resistant to change. Needless to say I am no longer a practicing Catholic, I gave it up for Lent. The idea of having someone else tell me what I should believe in and how is something I find rather offensive. I'm fully capable of thinking for myself thank you very much.

Wife Version 1.0 started off as an non-practicing Irish Catholic who a mere three years later decided to become born again. After a number of years of living with that I do think I can say from experience that even the Catholics aren't as narrow minded and prideful as a fundamentalist Christian (or a fundamentalist anything I suspect). Needless to say, Wife Version 2.0 is far superior even if she can be slightly blood thirsty at times. And who can object to dancing naked under a blood moon in the snow?

So no, this story is not going to devolve into a useless argument about religion, nor will these author's notes. The story will touch on religion only in as much as it impacts the lives of our main characters or the Weyr in general.

And finally I will make one additional comment on the topic religious reviews received. We had one reviewer, and personally I'm glad it was only one, that urged me to include Mormonism and stated I should look into it because it founded the state of Utah.

Really? I thought the federal government did that, after they forced concessions from the Mormons. More importantly if the founding of a state is the sole factor of interest, you need to wake up and look around. The Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths have had a far more profound impact on civilization than founding of a single state. Each of those religions can proudly lay claim to helping shape our civilization, and then bow their collective heads in shame for some of the greatest human misery experienced by mankind. At times each of those religions gave great contributions to civilization and promoted great tragedy.

If all you can say, is "Look! We founded Utah!" then you need to take a deeper look at your choices.

So enough said about religion, this isn't a religious debate, it's a STORY. If you don't agree with my personal views that's fine, but I will not engage you in a debate about religion. You have a god given right to practice your beliefs in the privacy of your own home, but not even god gives you the right to force your beliefs on others.

* Abc1507 wonders if the riders pay UK income tax and if the Weyr pays business taxes on deals like helping to build that power plant in Denmark. Of course they do. Dragon Services Ltd is the front company which represents the dragons. It is a UK based company and like other UK based companies, they pay UK taxes. The riders are official residents and as such they also pay their fair share of taxes as well. The Autonomy they were granted isn't total and was never meant to be total.

* Blueberry babe, you're welcome. Did you know your image is slightly disturbing. You have this red hat on and it conflicts with your name. Weird hunh?

* Kudos to everyone one, all three of you, that found the easter egg in the last chapters disclaimer. As a reward we're shipping you each a llama. Unfortunately we can't fit it into a small envelope so expect it to arrive piecemeal. Luckily for you we've included assembly instructions and a dollar store stapler.

* Rhiance, I have managed to pull her away from the beast. I'm solidly over on LOTRO and she's started playing there as well but she still floats back to WOW on occasion.

* Disneypenguin, yes I simplified things. In this tale female dragons bond to female humans and males to male humans. I know the original canon Pern didn't even allow women to bond anything but Queens until late in the series. Since we don't have queens in this tale, the Pern style bonding wasn't needed.

* Lifespans are not going to significantly increase. We know from Pern that the dragons aged just like humans and seemed to have similar lifespans. Magic does have an altering effect on longevity and we'll probably see any group with a witch or wizard having a lifespan extended out to what would be considered wizard normal. In the case of Millicent and her two husbands, the dragons magic may extend out their lifespans to 120-130, but thats about it. Someone like Ronan and Karen who as muggles, do not use the bonding ceremony probably won't see much past 100 to 110, and that would merely be a bleed over effect from their dragon's own magic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Standard Disclaimer:**

Bob stepped onto the stage and skidded to a halt. The stage looked like someone had exploded a flag factory, there were American flags everywhere!

"It's the fourth of July!" Alyx exclaimed, then she pushed him out of the way and dragged a heavy box into the center of the stage.

Bob looked up from the floor and paled dramatically. The heavy box Alyx was dragging was clearly labeled TNT.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed as Alyx pried open the box and extracted a stick of dynamite. She then carefully unwrapped it and dumped the explosive powder into a large oil drum.

"I'm making a nuclear firecracker in honor of July Fourth!" she replied brightly.

"A nuclear firecracker?" Bob repeated stupidly, because even authors can do stupid things sometimes. Its rare, but it happens.

"Yep," Alyx replied, popping the "p".

Alyx turned to Bob and glared at him. "And don't you start with me about Uncle Sam, I'm not going to fall for that old trick and stay up all night dressed only in a three piece string bikini colored as a flag just to see if he shows up! He didn't show up last year and I even tried to entice him with blinking leds in my cups!"

"Damn," Bob muttered, "There goes that idea, the residuals from the you tube videos nearly payed for the expansion to our llama herd!"

Bob looked up at Alyx. "Do you even know how to make a nuclear firecracker?"

"But of course," Alyx answered. "I read about it in last month's issue of Backyard Terrorist Quarterly. All you need to do is have a controlled explosion that forces two pieces of Plutonium together at high speed causing a chain reaction."

Bob blinked in surprise at that simplistic, albeit correct explanation.

Alyx dumped another load of powder into the steel drum, then she used a torch to weld it shut.

Bob dived into a handy bomb shelter and watched the process from the periscope viewport ™.

Alyx rolled the drum out into the back alley and carefully positioned it.

"Now what are you doing?" Bob asked, using the special bunker approved PA system ™.

"I have to position the barrels just right don't I?" she retorted.

"Nearly done," she muttered to herself, "this is going to be the best nuclear firecracker ever."

She then went and grabbed a pair of tongs to move the final elements into position. Bob watched the operation on his bunker approved video screen ™ in awe.

"And what is that?" he asked.

"Shhh, don't make me jostle this, it's the Plutonium," she replied.

Bob watched her place the stuffed Disney dog toy into the PLUTOnium chamber ™ and then he turned to the audience. Of course, being underground in a bunker, they couldn't see him. "Looks like we won't be able to tell you that we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern. On the other hand, Alyx is about to blow up the police station next door. Why don't you enjoy the chapter while I use my bunker approved escape tunnel ™ to get out of the danger zone."

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
\- Chapter 6 -  
Old Enemies and Dubious Allies**

* * *

**Plaza de Jacinto, Madrid, December 1999...**

"You are a difficult man to locate Senor," said a gravely voice.

Carlos the Gerbil glanced up and instinctively placed a hand under the table. His wand automatically deployed to his hand. The man eyeing him expectantly was ordinary in every aspect, and yet Carlos knew instinctively that this man had carefully cultivated his appearance to seem ordinary. This man was not ordinary and Carlos' internal alarms were screaming 'danger' to him.

"Perhaps I do not wish to be found?" he replied cautiously. "Especially by people who I do not know."

The man nodded and gestured to the empty chair. "Ah I do understand my elusive friend, but I have been asked to seek you out to give you a message. May I sit so we can talk like two civilized men? I promise I will keep my hands in view at all times."

Carlos nodded slowly and his eyes darted around the room for a moment before settling on the stranger again. With the exception of this stranger, no one looked out of place, no one was paying extra attention towards his section of the small restaurant.

The man sat across from Carlos and he glanced down at a menu for a moment, then he looked up at Carlos and smiled. "It is known to my employers that you have connections among a special group of people," the man said.

"I may," Carlos hedged, "or I may not. I am not accustomed to dealing with people I do not know Senor."

The man across from Carlos smiled broadly at him. "Well then let's fix that Senor. I am Markus Petrovich Acoperit. I work at the Russian embassy here in Madrid."

As if by magic Acoperit produced a small business card which he laid on the table between them.

"I see," Carlos said slowly. His one hand played with a fork on the table while he considered if anyone from Russia had a reason to kill him. He couldn't think of one, but that didn't mean the man wasn't a free agent working for someone else. "And what do you do at the embassy?"

He carefully reached for the card and noted absently that it did claim to be part of the Russian Embassy, not that really proved anything.

"Officially I am part of the press office," Acoperit admitted.

"And unofficially?" pressed Carlos.

Acoperit smiled. "Come now Carlos, men of our profession are rarely so open about what we do. I am, like you, shall we say 'a remover of obstacles'."

Acoperit held up both hands to placate Carlos who leaned back. "I am not here in that capacity my friend. I have tasked with using my skills to locate you in order to pass a message for you and your employer."

Carlos relaxed fractionally. Acoperit could have easily killed Carlos without this elaborate meeting. Even with his location in the restaurant, a sniper shot could have easily taken him out. "Oh, and what is this message?"

"We note that the conflict between your neighbors is at an end and now that new governments are in place; Italy and Greece are moving towards a more open and economically damaging era for Spain. We also note that most of your recent difficulties resulted from British intervention. Now the British stand to create even further havoc with these dragons of theirs," Acoperit said, then he paused and waited while the waiter approached the table.

"Are you ready to order sirs?" asked the waiter.

Acoperit glanced at Carlos. "What would you suggest?" he asked calmly.

Carlos smiled thinly. "I am quite fond of their lamb, but they serve a very good fish dish called Bacalao al Pil Pil here."

Acoperit nodded. "Excellent, I'll have that."

Carlos placed his own order and waited a moment longer for the waiter to leave. He allowed his wand to retract and then he lifted his hand to the table. "You sound like you do not like the dragons?"

Acoperit shrugged. "Personally I have nothing against dragons. But my employers deem them a destabilizing influence. They are actively seeking out others who might feel the same way in the hopes of finding allies. Common interest is a powerful thing no?"

Carlos leaned in a little, relaxing more. "Common interest and common purpose."

Acoperit nodded. "Indeed you do understand. My employers are concerned at events unfolding in Europe but it would be greatly frowned upon if our involvement became known. Your employers on the other hand have the freedom of being European to start with."

Carlos nodded. "And this alliance would come with offers of assistance? Some of what you would ask of us would undoubtedly be expensive. Dragons make for formidable opponents."

Acoperit smiled in response. He already knew that Carlos had an operation shut down in Britain due to dragons. It was the only real blemish on Carlos' record. "That is a lesson my employers have already learned my friend. Our assistance can be multifaceted. We can supply materials, information and sometimes disposable help. We have contacts among many that would like to see harm come to the dragons, with your help we can pull them all together as a unit."

Carlos leaned back on his chair and considered Acoperit's words. His group was small and that made them an easy target. A larger more cohesive group would be harder for the European governments to combat. The waiter arrived and began to place their order on the table. While the man worked he pondered the hidden meaning behind what Acoperit was saying. Russia was willing to assist in a campaign against dragons in Europe, but their involvement had to remain a secret. They were willing to pay some of the bills, but were unwilling to take many of the risks. It wasn't an unusual theme with people that sought his services.

There was no great love of dragons within the Spanish Ministry, but there was no great hatred either. On the other hand the Spanish Ministry of Magic had always worked on a policy of destabilizing the surrounding countries because conflict brought opportunities.

Carlos slowly twirled his wine glass for a moment longer, then he looked at Acoperit who was enjoying his fish with gusto. "I will approach my superiors with your offer. While I cannot say for certain they will accept, I think I know them well enough to say they will look upon your offer with favor."

Acoperit wiped his mouth with a napkin and then he lifted his own wine glass. "Excellent, one cannot ask for more than that my friend."

Carlos returned the salute with his own wine glass. It wasn't often that he had the opportunity to dine with someone in the same line of work as his own. The man was clearly a muggle, but that didn't matter to Carlos, he was a kindred spirit, an outcast from society that fulfilled a vital role to society. "Let us enjoy this fine meal. Rico, the chef, is a personal friend of mine and an excellent cook."

Acoperit smiled warmly and turned back to his meal. The main reason for meeting was over and now both men could relax. They both knew that tomorrow they each could be paid to kill the other, but men like them didn't worry about that.

**Condron Weyr, New Mexico, USA, January 2000...**

"You interested in jets son?"

Jared Wilkson turned and nodded at the Air Force Colonel. "Yes sir, my grandfather was a fighter pilot and I always dreamed of becoming one."

Colonel Michel nodded. "You and just about every other boy, still, you earned your wings in a way."

Jared's eyes drifted towards his dragon Milth who was sunning himself nearby. "Yes sir, I did," he said with pride.

"Its a shame you can't join the service, but if you like I can get you some posters and photos of jets," offered the Colonel. "I often have to visit various manufacturers who are eager to give away photos and posters of their products."

Jared turned to look at the colonel with a touch of awe. "That would be great! I could hang them up in my quarters."

He looked down for a moment while the Colonel watched him. He visited the Weyr on a semi-regular basis, checking in with the various scientific teams and once in a great while he'd fly to Condron. Each time he'd draw a small crowd of riders to admire the sleek T-38 trainer that he often used. Jared was one of the lads he had noticed who always appeared to admire the jet.

Officially Michel wasn't attached to any unit. He was a ghost, he didn't exist, and yet he had the authority to 'borrow' equipment as he pleased. His real job was part of a black research project that very few knew about. He would often pass assignments to people and they would never know they were working on a small piece of a much greater project. Such was the case here in Condron were several people were working on diverse projects that had far greater implications than anyone knew.

The colonel gestured to the trainer. "I don't get much of chance to fly these days, so in a way I envy you."

"Me?" exclaimed Jared.

Michel nodded. "No one is going to tell you you're too old to fly your dragon son. When you get to my age and they tell you you can't fly anymore, it's a real kick in the balls. Suddenly you're behind a desk and struggling to believe that flying a desk is serving your country."

Jared shook his head. "I would hate to be too old to fly Milth. I'm sure you are still serving our country Colonel. My granddad said his days in the air force were his best."

Michel nodded and glanced around. "Jared right? I think you introduced yourself to me once before."

Jared's smile widened. "Yes sir, Jared Wilkson, Milth's rider."

Michel held out his hand, "Pleased to make your acquaintance Jared. Say is there someplace nearby we can get a cold coke? There's no stewie in that thing to bring me a cold drink and I'm parched."

Jared bobbed his head and pointed to a building in the distance. "The Weyr mess hall is over there, you can get just about anything to drink there."

"Well lead on then son. We can talk over a cold drink, I'm always interested in talking with a fellow pilot," Michel said.

Jared nodded and led Michel in the direction of the Weyr Mess Hall. Milth lifted his head and watched his rider and the other man. He wasn't sure about the other man, he didn't mean any harm, but he had secrets and that bothered him.

**The Burrow, January 2000...**

Arthur waited until everyone had sat down and Molly bustled around the kitchen preparing drinks. Once everyone was settled he smiled gently at his family. He was so very proud of them.

Ginny was apprenticed to a healer. That came as a surprise to everyone who thought she wanted to play Quidditch for a living. Through Madam Pomfrey, she was able to obtain a very coveted apprenticeship just at a time when certain fields, like healing, were starting to use muggle techniques. It was an exciting time for Healers and Ginny was a part of that.

Percy had been picked up as an administrator and budget accountant for the MLE.

After Percy's ordeal with the Drought of Living Death it had taken him months to recover fully and Arthur wasn't sure he would have recovered at all had it not been for the determination and tenacity of his girlfriend Penny.

To Molly's intense delight they married nearly a year after that incident and both Arthur and Molly were delighted with Penny. She had an uncanny knack of keeping him grounded unlike anyone else could, even his own family.

Bill still worked for Gringotts and was quickly rising among the ranks of human employees to the position of Senior Curse Breaker. He was unattached still, but Arthur knew he had been seeing a girl on the side and hiding it from Molly.

_Molly, bless her soul,_ Arthur thought, _would take any girl her sons bring home and start planning a wedding. She simply couldn't believe her boys would prefer to play the field for a while before settling down. _Bill had dated several girls that Molly didn't know about.

He glanced at the empty chair that normally would have been Charley's seat and held in a sigh. Charlie continued to write but he had gone to South America to work at a hippogriff reserve when he lost his job as a dragon handler.

Arthur hoped that someday Charley would understand that dragons were truly sentient and come home. Charlie was bitter about losing a job that he had wanted ever since he had accidentally seen a dragon at Gringotts when he was little.

Moving to Ron he grinned at his youngest who had managed to surprise everyone. Ron had rebelled against Molly and took a position as an assistant coach for the Chudley Cannons. To everyone's surprise, he started helping design plays that resulted in a few wins, and then more wins. There was only so much that could be done considering the quality of the players, but Chudley had moved up in the rankings and were no longer the worst team in the league. That in itself was enough for people to sit up and notice him.

The owners of Chudley were tickled pink with Ron's performance and were actively trying to recruit better talent to take advantage of his plays. Ron was making a name for himself in the small circle of Quidditch coaching and he thought he might make a full coach position in the coming year.

Arthur then turned to the reason why he had asked for this family meeting. "I've asked you all here today because I want to address an issue with everyone, but most importantly, with Fred and George."

Both twins looked up with interest. They had graduated Hogwarts with decent, if not outstanding grades and it had been good enough for them to find work in the ministry. The ministry even now, was still trying to find competent people rather than simply hiring another pure-blood.

"Boys, I've had a long talk with your mother. I know from talking with your boss that you are both hard working good employees. But even your mother saw that neither of you were happy in your jobs. Your mother has also come to realize that sometimes happiness means taking a risk."

Arthur placed a hand over Molly's hand. "Your mother believes firmly that a solid job will allow you to find your happiness and I must admit that in my case, it is true. But you are not me and I would never want to force you into doing something that made you unhappy.

"Your mother and I know you have been pooling your salaries and saving as much money as possible in the hopes that someday you could open your Joke shop."

Molly sighed and shook her head, but didn't say anything.

"How much have you managed to save?" Arthur asked.

"About two thousand galleons dad, why?" asked George.

Arthur blinked in surprise, then his smile broadened. "Well what I am going to suggest is that you start planning on opening your shop. I've talked it over with Percy and Bill we're willing to offer you a loan to start up the shop. We each are willing to put in a thousand galleons, between us and your two thousand that should be enough to open a store don't you think?"

Fred stared at his father in amazement while George turned to Percy who nodded at him. "Why? Really?"

Percy frowned. "You're both annoying and often prats, but even I will admit your jokes are funny," Percy said, then he flushed slightly. "Besides I miss your happy go lucky attitudes. Anymore time in the ministry and it will kill you."

Percy shivered slightly and Penelope reached for his hand. "If there is one thing I have learned, its that you have to reach for your happiness with both hands."

Fred turned to George and for the first time in several years dropped into twin speak. "We'll have to see a solicitor."

"The contract of course."

"And start buying supplies."

"Cauldrons, we need new cauldrons!"

Ginny started giggling as the two started exchanging ideas that consisted of little more than a word or two. Arthur looked at his wife and was pleased to see her smiling happily. There were tears in her eyes because her sons were back again for the first time in several years.

Arthur sipped his tea and watched as one of the twins produced a notebook full of ideas that they had been compiling since graduating Hogwarts. As family talks went, this was one of the most successful. Weasley Wizarding Wheezes would be opened as a partnership of Fred, George, Arthur, Percy and Bill.

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, January 2000...**

"Harry? Are you busy?"

Harry glanced up from the papers on his desk and smiled at Susan Bones. "Sue, no, come on in."

Susan entered the room and paused to greet Chekiath. "Hello Cheki," she said, then she took a seat across from Harry.

"_Hello Sue, how are you today?"_ asked Cheki.

Sue smiled. "I'm fine but Nimonth is unhappy that you turned her down again."

Harry grinned. Chekiath frequently partook in shagging flights, but never with a bonded dragon except his consorts. It was a bit of a insider joke at the Weyr that the Weyrleader's dragon introduced polygamy to the Weyrleader and the Weyrleader introduced fidelity to his dragon. Chekiath politely rebuffed every bonded female that offered to partner in a shagging flight.

Chekiath rumbled with laughter. _"The bonded females know I will say no. I think they ask now just to have something to complain about."_

Sue laughed, then she turned to Harry who was trying not to smirk at her. He counted Susan as a close friend and an important part of the Weyr community they were building.

Susan had taken over the traditional role of head woman right out of the Pern lore and turned it into a modern day job akin to today's plant manager. She was in charge of housing and building allocations as well as overseeing the Kitchen hall and making sure the Weyr had a stocked warehouse of items like replacement harnesses, uniforms, training materials and even ammunition for the riders crossbows.

Susan also oversaw the Elves except for the very few personal elves like Dobby.

"So what can I do for you today Sue?"

Susan glanced down at the clip board in her hand. "Harry, this coming impression will see us dealing with two hundred and eighty eggs and three hundred and forty candidates. If we assume the usual Weyr turn out, that will be over one thousand riders, over six hundred family members and another one hundred dignitaries and press. We've been muddling along with Campbeltown mostly footing the bill and handling the hatching. I think it's time we start asking the other Weyrs to start contributing. I spoke to Karen who told me we spent nearly fifty thousand pounds in just food beasts for the last hatching. Plus at the rate we've been growing we seriously need to consider relocating to a larger facility or enlarging our existing facility. There's enough room on the hatching sands for another hundred clutching mothers, but we need to expand the visitors seating."

Harry winced at the numbers and leaned back in his chair. Campbeltown had been the only Weyr financing the hatching since the formation of Condron and Maziang. It was also the wealthiest of the Weyrs although some Weyrs, like Condron and Sakushima were quickly catching up to Campbeltown in terms of productivity.

He leaned forward and pressed a speed dial button on his phone. Most of the Weyr was present today. It was a Friday and most of the riders had arranged their university schedules to give them Fridays free for Weyr duties.

"Karen," he said to the speaker phone, "can you come in here?"

"I'll be right there Harry," she replied.

Harry smiled over his desk to Susan. "I don't want to make any mistakes here, and making decisions about expenses without talking to Karen would be a mistake."

Susan nodded, she spoke to Karen this morning to get an idea of the costs involved.

"How is school going for you Sue?"

Susan grinned. "Well I don't sound like a total idiot anymore, unless someone mentions a telly show or a rock band. I'm doing well enough in my classes. I'm no Hermione, but I think I'll pass just fine."

Harry nodded, he had seen some of the work Sue had come up with since attending school. She was studying plant management with a minor in architectural design. One of the first things she had done after the first dragon apartment complex had gone up was to mark up the blueprints with revisions based on problems that she and others had noted in the first building, then she returned the plans to the original architect for corrections. The first apartment building was still usable, but the later ones were more comfortable.

The first apartment building was now affectionately called the "Noobie block" and usually the apartments there were assigned to new riders. The apartments were generally comfortable, but the building had a smaller water heater and tended to be very hot in the summer months.

"Please, as much as I love her, I don't think I could handle someone else that smart," Harry countered.

"Harry, Hermione may be smart, but she relies on you for a lot of practical matters. Besides, you're no slouch when it comes to intelligence. We all know about your private tutoring and we know that Hermione has been working with you so that you can take your NEWTS someday."

Harry was about to reply when the door opened and Karen entered. As usual she was carrying her laptop computer, and if you could believe Ronan, the only time Karen didn't have that machine at hand was when she slept.

"Karen, come on in, Susan here was explaining about the hatching and I thought it would be useful to include you in our discussion," Harry said from his chair.

Karen walked in and sat down next to Susan who she greeted with a smile. "I'm glad she brought it up Harry, it's becoming quite expensive and so far the only one paying for it is us."

Harry arched and eyebrow and Karen chuckled, then she powered up her laptop and read off some figures. "Last November we spent just under eighty thousand pounds for the hatching. We hatched two hundred and eight dragons who each had on average three yearling sheep a piece per week. Over six hundred yearling sheep cost us fifty four thousand pounds, then there was another fourteen thousand to feed everyone at the hatching feast. It cost us twenty thousand pounds to install those cabins for the press. Since we opened up the hatching to the press we had to hide the magic being used which drove up our costs because we had to bring in human help."

Harry flinched with each number. He knew Campbeltown was very wealthy, but hatchings were a major drain that showed no signs of going away anytime soon.

Karen smiled at Harry's expression. "It's not all bad news Harry. Some of the expenses are non-recurring, like the press cabins. As long as we maintain them, they should stay usable for a number of years to come.

"The last three hatchings have had roughly the same number of hatchlings so the costs were flattened out. Still, not counting the cabins, we spent around eighty thousand pounds for each of the last three hatchings. Unfortunately the number has been steadily increasing as the number of dragons being hatched increases, plus every Weyr wants to be present which means their number is increasing etc."

She trailed off and looked at Harry expectantly. "Are we in danger of not being able to afford a hatching?" Harry asked cautiously.

Karen blinked in surprise, "Erm... no, not now. In fact our income is out-pacing our expenditures by nearly sixty two percent. That was another issue I wanted to talk to you about, right now we're sitting on a pile of money that isn't doing anything."

Harry nodded. "I will place this on the agenda for the next Weyrleader's meeting and ask each leader to bring along their financial manager. I can see that an established Weyr that is making money should be able to pitch in to help with the hatchings, but I won't agree to burdening a poor Weyr or one that is just starting up. As to the money situation, put together your suggestions and we'll go over it."

Karen nodded happily, she had a number of ideas for what to use the money for that would provide a nice solid return on their investment.

He glanced towards Susan and she smiled slightly, "There is also the issue of the hatching chamber," she prompted. "The coming hatching will see us putting some three hundred and forty candidates on the sands. If every rider attends, then we'll put eleven hundred and sixty riders, plus over six hundred parents and a couple hundred dignitaries and press in the stands. That's over two thousand people in the stands. We were barely able to fit people at the last hatching. The chamber needs to be enlarged and more seating installed."

Harry frowned, the November hatching had resulted in him standing for nearly all of the six hour process. There had been seating still available, but not a lot of it and he had been too busy making sure things ran smoothly to sit and watch with the others.

"There's two problems here I think," he said softly.

Susan looked up sharply at his comment and he smiled to soften the impact. "You've done a wonderful job of organizing the back end of the hatching, making sure we have enough sheep and food etc. Hagrid is run ragged at each hatching even with our volunteers directing the hatchlings to the feeding pens. Hagrid needs help as well. I believe it would be prudent for each Weyr to have their own Weyrling master who would remain after the impression and help Hagrid. Right now Hagrid is largely in charge of the Weyrlings until they are cut free to go to their respective Weyrs, sure he had some riders helping, but that help isn't consistent. Hagrid needs to train up a Weyrling master from each Weyr so he has help after the impression."

Susan nodded slowly, "That would be a big help for Hagrid, but what about the hatching grounds?"

Harry shrugged and made a quick note in his book. "One step at a time Sue, I'll arrange to go see Ragnok and Polenth. I know we're sitting on a large amount of galleons from Polenth's clan, perhaps we can arrange for Polenth and the goblins to carve out a bigger hatchery."

He looked pointedly at Sue. "You and Karen need to work up a projection of how big we need it to be. I'm actually thinking that we may have to alternate hatchings for the more established Weyrs. There are thirty four Weyrs now that Romeral and Nevado del Huila have merged. Even if a few more merge, and I see that as a distinct possibility, thirty Weyrs hatching at the same time would be an enormous strain on Disko's resources."

Karen tapped a few keys, then she looked up with a troubled expression. "Even if we went to fifteen Weyrs per hatching, at the average rate of forty eggs per Weyr we're looking at six hundred hatchlings. The hatching ground is going to need to be stadium sized to handle that. We are really fortunate that the dragons can control their egg laying production."

"Well I don't see enlarging the chamber as a problem," countered Sue. "We built the apartment buildings, we can build a stadium sized hatching ground. We'll build it so it's big enough to handle more than the fifteen Weyrs, this way we have room to grow if we need to. The nicest thing about the hatching grounds is we're building down into solid rock and we don't have to worry about power lines, foundations or zoning laws."

"No, just lava. Disko is a volcano you know," Karen said softly.

Harry rooted around among his papers. "I don't think that is a real issue Karen," he said, then he found the sheet he sought. "Here it is." He briefly scanned the document. "According to Ragnok, the magma chamber at Disko is at a depth of more than thirty kilometers. I seriously doubt enlarging the chamber will risk breaking into the magma chamber. However, it would be prudent to ask the Goblins to survey the chamber first."

"Are you sure it's safe Harry?" Karen pressed. Karen and her dragon had just narrowly missed getting hit with a lava bomb when the volcano at Nevado del Huila erupted. Since that point she was more than a little nervous around volcanoes.

"From an eruption? Yes. The same report from Ragnok suggests that they were far more successful channeling the lava away from Disko that they originally thought," he said, then he frowned. "On the other hand there is now a possibility that we may lose some of the hot springs. Ragnok says the chances of an eruption are nearly zero now and are expected to remain that way for at least a century. In the meantime we can explore the idea of opening a second hatchery that could handle half of the Weyrs, say in Asia or Africa."

Harry glanced up at a map of the world and he frowned.

"What is it," asked Susan worriedly.

Harry turned away from the map. "You know I'm kind of disappointed. I think I always hoped we could have kept using Disko for all our needs."

"Maybe we can," mused Karen.

Harry turned to look at her in surprise. "Eh?"

"Well let's look at this in pieces. First we know the hatching grounds are getting too cramped. Right?" she said.

She paused and waited for Harry and Susan to agree.

"What if Susan took the problem to the same architect that designed the apartments. We could take the finished design to the goblins and ask if they could build it couldn't we?"

Harry turned to Susan who looked between the two of them. "I suppose we could try? I would need your permission to bring some of them to the hatching grounds so they can get an idea of the scope of the project."

"Granted," Harry said with a smile.

"Good," Karen said. "If that works out, then the next step is dealing with the housing issue for the guests and the Weyrs. The Weyrs are simple. Let each Weyr pay for the construction of a single apartment block. At roughly sixty apartments per building that means they are limited to three wings of attendees but realistically if we didn't limit them we'd be drowning in riders come the hatching day."

"The riders that stay behind in their Weyrs can always watch the hatching on the telly," Susan added hesitantly. "I mean can't we send them live images via our network?"

Harry nodded thoughtfully. There was more than enough room on the island for the construction. "That satisfies the issue for the riders who can't make it, but what about the guests and special visitors?" he asked.

Karen smiled. "Well that's one I've been meaning to talk to you about. Lee forwarded a message he received from a large hotel chain. There have been enough news pieces on the hatching Weyr and the hot springs that they were interested in opening a large hotel on Disko. You know there's been considerable interest in opening up the hatchings to the general public. I'm sure we could negotiate to reserve the entire hotel for our guests during hatching season."

Harry frowned. "I don't know," he said, then he hurried to add. "It's not necessarily a bad idea Karen, but I'm concerned about having the public at a hatching. We could end up with people trying to storm the hatching grounds."

Karen sat back in her chair with a crestfallen expression. "I didn't think of that," she replied softly. "Maybe we can enclose the guest stands in plexiglass like they do for Canadian ice hockey."

"I'm not going to say no to the idea Karen, but any hotel on Disko changes things. A hotel would want to be open all year round. The only draw would be the hot springs which we may lose or we turn Disko into a manned Weyr," Harry offered.

"Create a showcase Weyr," Susan offered.

Harry turned to her. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"A showcase Weyr. You know how now we have days where schools come to visit and we hold little classes to teach the children about dragons? Or the times when we host conferences for business owners so they can see what we're doing and how it might fit in with their business?" Susan replied. "This could be a Weyr dedicated to a similar function only it would be set up for adults. We could add classes about our dragon powered technology, even set up a business and technology center for businesses so they can learn about what partnering with dragons means. Have every Weyr contribute a wing on a rotating basis to staff the Weyr and run the center."

Karen perked up and looked extremely interested. "That could work," she mused. "It's more ambitious than I envisioned, but..."

She trailed off when Harry shook his head. "Setting up Disko as a manned Weyr is possible, but first we need a concrete plan and I want to float this with the Weyrleader's council first."

"One more thing Harry," Susan added.

"Yes?"

"We really wouldn't lose the hot springs. Couldn't we place some hot rocks in them and pipe in the water?" she asked.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "You know that never occurred to me."

"Me either," murmured Karen sheepishly.

Harry added more notes in his book while Susan and Karen exchanged a knowing grin. Every rider knew about his book and several had approached Remus about getting his book for the Weyr archive and giving Harry a new book. So far he refused to give up his book.

**Weyrleader's Mast, Campbeltown Weyr, July 2000...**

Harry looked at the large photo with interest. It looked like a ten meter tall radio antenna that someone had attached all sorts of instruments to. He absently noted the solar panels and wind speed meter, then he turned back to Arnas.

"And you say this will help us Arnas?" Harry asked a bit dubiously. He sat at a table along with the four divisional leaders. Other tables nearby held the Wing leaders in each division. This was something new that Harry had instituted. Modeled after the naval tradition of the Flag mast, twice per month Harry would hold an afternoon long session in the Kitchen Hall where the Weyr leadership would deal with problems that have arisen among the riders. Sometimes Harry would have to mete out a punishment, but more often the mast allowed riders to present new ideas.

"Yes I believe it would. I understand these are expensive Harry, but these self contained meteorology stations would allow me to quickly provide a forecast at any particular Weyr around the world. All I would need to do is remotely access them via the net and we'll know exactly what the weather conditions are at a particular Weyr," Arnas said a bit nervously. He had been given the job of Weyr meteorology officer shortly after he had impressed.

Although quiet and introverted, Harry was very pleased with Arnas. The boy had spent his weyrling days hovering around the edges of his peers, never truly socializing with them. When Harry asked for someone to monitor the weather for the Weyr he volunteered immediately. Since then one of the more outspoken girls snapped him up and he was turning out to be an excellent addition to the Weyr.

Academically he was one of the most intelligent people in the Weyr and in charge of the Weyrs fledgling weather bureau. Arnas was now well along to earning his degree in meteorology and was already considering attempting a more advanced degree in the subject. He was still soft spoken and introverted, but wife Annie had brought him out of his shell and his position as Weyr meteorologist earned him a lot of respect among the riders.

Ronan who sat next to Harry leaned forward in his chair with intense interest. "How do these things communicate with your laptop Arnas? Only the manned Weyrs have electrical power," he asked.

Arnas grinned, "That's the beauty of these things Ronan. Each station contains a bank of solar electric cells for electricity that charge batteries and each station has a satellite uplink which provides a 128kb connection to the net. The unit is really powered down most of the time. It's fully programmable so I can set it to automatically power up to take and store its measurements every hour, but until I command it to upload the data it uses as little power as possible. We can always install one of our portable power generators, it wouldn't need to be one of the big ones, just a E model would provide more power than it could really use."

Dragon Services Limited produced five designs of portable steam power plants ranging from A to E. The A Dragon Plant model was capable of supplying any inner city hospital with power and was the size of a large truck. The power models then worked their way down to the E Dragon Plant, which could provide power to a single house.

While the Weyr provided the designs for the power plants, companies like Honda and Mitsubishi actually produced and marketed them under license from the Weyr.

"The company that manufactures the unit is eager to have us use their product. I haven't mentioned it to Lee as yet, but they are the leading supplier of remote meteorology sensing stations and some of them are very difficult to reach. I believe we could come to an arrangement to help them reach some of the more remote locations in return for a substantial discount."

Karen looked up from her spot nearby. While technically not one of the Wing or Division leaders, her position as the Weyr's chief financial officer gave her a prominent place at these meetings. "I'd like to know more about this Arnas," she said, then she turned to Harry. "I've been talking with Kat Mathews at Condron and we've come to believe we need to set up a ferry group. There are a number of industries

interested in using our services to move equipment, either because the location is very remote or because the equipment is difficult to transport. This fits right into that idea."

Harry made a note on a pad in front of him. "A ferry group? Can we tie this in with the riders that are pushing for us to set up tour services? Bess Middleton from Condron has been sending me weekly emails asking to form a group to provide tours," Harry asked. "To be honest, Hermione told me this is an insurance nightmare so I've been reluctant to do anything. Perhaps if there is enough interest we can look into it further?"

Shortly before going public with the Weyrs, Harry took the advice of the Weyr's legal group and formed Dragon Services Ltd. The board of directors for the company consisted mainly of Weyrleaders and it's principle purpose was to allow all the various opportunities to be consolidated under one banner. So far Dragon Services Ltd had nearly a dozen sub-corporations. Adding another would be time consuming and involve a ton of paperwork, but it would be worth the effort.

Karen looked surprised, then she nodded. "That makes sense. Two groups performing similar services but tied together under a single sub-corporation. Yes I think we can do that easily enough."

"Well you know the drill Karen, get the people together and let them hammer out a plan and presentation to the board," Harry said with a wry smile.

Karen dropped her eyes and nodded. The Weyr had set up several sub-corporations within the Weyr for handling different functions and Karen had nearly put herself into the hospital trying to coordinate everything. Harry finally put his foot down and made it clear, no Weyr executive would be allowed to get involved with any sub-corporation unless they gave up their current position. Karen had worked herself into exhaustion and Harry reluctantly stepped in at Ronan's request. Karen was the chief financial officer for Campbeltown Weyr and Dragon Services Ltd, but she wasn't allowed to do any more than that.

It was the only time she had been called to the Weyrleader's mast and Harry as punishment sent her and Ronan on a two week cruise without her computer. It turned out that it really was Harry's wedding present to Ronan and Karen, to pay for their honeymoon.

Harry turned back to Arnas. "Arnas, I like this idea, but it bears more looking into. Please gather your materials and get together with Karen. I will say this, even if we do not get involved moving these stations, we will purchase enough of them for our needs."

Arnas nodded gratefully and he turned and walked over to where Karen was sitting.

"What's next?" Harry asked.

"A disciplinary action Harry," Hermione said softly from the corner where she acted as meeting secretary. "Gordon Chapman showed up drunk last week when he was due to go on late night watch patrol. He was incapable of going on patrol and needed to be relieved."

The Weyr maintained a 24 hour patrol over the surrounding territory. Since going public it was necessary to keep an eye out on people approaching the Weyr. There were four basic patrols lasting six hours each, Morning watch, Afternoon watch, Evening watch and Late Night watch. No one liked Late Night watch which lasted from midnight to six in the morning.

No one rider stayed aloft for the full six hours since there were always enough riders on hand to let a rider shift one hour aloft and one hour sitting in the office. A typical shift meant a total of only three hours air time unless something unusual popped up.

Harry sighed, he hated dealing with disciplinary actions. Most of these meetings dealt with riders looking to improve things but at least once a month someone would require disciplinary action for something they did. Most of the time it was minor stuff and Harry would fine the rider a portion of their weekly pay or place them on a duty that everyone hated. So far Harry had not had to deal with anything major or anything that would conflict with British law, but he knew it was only a matter of time before that happened. Harry dreaded the day when that happened.

Chapman had been a problem from the get go, one of a handful of riders that consistently caused problems. At least twice a year Harry would have to smack down the man and that would cause him to behave until his next infraction.

While Chapman usually did whatever task he was assigned without any problems, he tended to be abrasive around the other riders. Chapman was one of only a handful of the first riders that hadn't gone on to university and since Harry hadn't gone on either, it wasn't like anyone could complain about that. Unlike Harry however, Chapman had an excessive amount of free time on his hands which he used to chase girls in his old neighborhood, or just generally get into minor trouble around the Weyr. His Wing leader had assigned him a job, but he was a little too efficient at it, leaving him extra spare time.

This was the first time he had done something that impacted his duties.

A side door opened and Bob Malwich, Harry's Wing second for Wing One entered followed by Gordon Chapman who sported a very unhappy look. Malwich led Chapman to stand before the table containing Harry and the divisional leaders.

Harry leaned forward in his seat. "Gordon, do you have an explanation for your behavior?" he asked icily.

Several around the table shivered in their seats and fervently hoped that they never did anything to cause Harry to speak to them like that.

"Aw come on Harry. Late watch is dead boring. I don't know why we even bother having a patrol anymore," protested Chapman.

"Last month four people were caught trying to enter the Weyr during late watch. Three were harmless, but one was planning on trying to deface our property with religious slogans decrying our dragons. He could have been just as easily carrying a bomb! You call that boring?"

Harry sat back and blew out an explosive breath. "Chapman, since you impressed you've been a source of problems for the Weyr..."

He trailed off and stared hard at Gordon who had the grace to look down and at least pretend to be ashamed of himself.

"Very well," Harry said finally. "You are fined two months pay and confined to the Weyr for the next month. For the next four months you'll receive only half pay."

Chapman looked up and glared at Harry.

"Furthermore until I say so, you're on dung duty full time."

Harry paused a moment, then spoke again. "Cheki, inform Kirteth of his rider's limitations for the thirty days."

The limitation was a problem for Chapman who, if you believed him, had several girlfriends outside of the Weyr as well as occasionally sampling one of the newer riders who hadn't learned yet how bad he could be. With over 400 riders there was always some girl that didn't believe the stories about Chapman.

"_I have Harry. Kirteth is very unhappy with his rider,"_ announced the dragon to the whole room. A gasp ran through the room at that pronouncement.

Chapman paled considerably and now looked very unhappy, a nervous twitch appeared in his expression. It wasn't often that a dragon was unhappy with their rider, to announce it so publicly was a major blow to the man's ego.

"_I am sorry that my rider has caused so much problems Weyrleader,"_ Kirteth said suddenly. The dragon's distress was obvious in his tone.

Harry grimaced and glanced upwards to the ceiling. Kirteth and Chekiath were currently on the roof of the building. "It is not your fault Kirteth, I'm sure things will get better," he said, then shot Chapman a hard glare.

Chapman nodded fervently, all bluster pulled from his sails by the announcement that his dragon was unhappy.

Harry looked towards Chapman, "Report to Toby Boblett immediately. Tell him that you're assigned to him for the foreseeable future and I will email him confirming it. Dismissed," he said coldly. "And don't show up at mast again for disciplinary action."

Chapman nodded and walked despondently towards the exit. Harry waited until he left the room before nodding in thanks to Bob Malwich and asking what was next on the list.

"That would be me Harry," Lee said a bit uncertainly. He had news he wanted to share, but he was reluctant now, he could tell Harry was still angry about Chapman.

Harry glanced over towards Hermione who nodded in agreement. Lee was on the list. They were coming down to the end of the Mast and Lee had asked to make an announcement.

"All right Lee, you have the floor," Harry replied.

Lee stood and walked over to the spot where Chapman had been standing. "Well, you see, it's like this. Mariah and I are going to get married. Next week actually. I was wondering if you'd mind if we popped over to Gretna Green to do it?"

Harry's eyes narrowed in suspicion and he leaned forward on his chair. Lee turned a bit darker under Harry's gaze, but he held his ground. "Lee," Harry started to say.

"Er... well the truth is Mariah and I are going to have a baby," Lee suddenly said. Hermione gasped in the corner and smiled broadly. Lee and Mariah would be the first rider pair to start a family. There had been others who had gotten married, or hand-fasted, but Lee and Mariah would add another first, the first baby.

Harry leaned back and shook his head. "What I was about to say Lee, is that no one, not even me, has any say over what you do privately. I'm pleased for you both and offer my congratulations, but I'll admit I'm also puzzled why you'd think it was necessary to ask my permission."

"Publicity," Lee mumbled.

"Harry, a Gretna Green wedding will make the front page of the next day's paper," James said. "Lee could have arranged a more conventional service, but with a pregnant bride, time is a bit of an issue."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. Nearly a dozen of the first riders had gotten married by this point, most of them holding the service either at the Weyr or at a church in the town of Campbeltown. "Lee, you and Mariah are adults. What you do is your own affair. All I ask is that you remember who you are and who you represent when you are outside of the Weyr," Harry said, then he paused and looked around for a moment. "Each of us has an obligation to uphold the honor of the Weyr, but no one should ever feel like they need my permission to follow your heart."

He glanced back to Lee. "I do want to make one thing plainly clear. Mariah is pregnant and we know from the dragon memories that Between can sometimes interfere with that. From here on she's to be closely monitored by Issac, or a specialist of his choice. The safety of the mother and baby are paramount, so when she's down checked for flight I don't want to hear any complaints about it."

"Issac's already been working on a program for monitoring a pregnant rider Harry," Remus offered.

Harry leaned back and smiled in relief. The dragon memories contained disturbing instances of women miscarrying their babies after a trip Between. Issac pointed out that the Weyr's of Pern had lost most of their medical knowledge that it was safe to say the modern Weyrs had access to better doctors than Pern did.

Harry stood and offered a hand to Lee. "I do hope you don't mind some of us attending your service?"

Lee grabbed Harry's hand and shook it eagerly. "No, not at all!"

"And with that, I'd say the mast is done. It's nice to end on a high note," Ronan declared.

Harry walked over to Hermione. "Will you see that everyone knows they don't have to come ask permission if they want to start a family?" he asked a bit plaintively.

Hermione smiled at him. "I'll send out a memo via email Harry. Don't take it the wrong way, it's just that everyone knows how hard we've all been working and starting a family will steal time from our efforts."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and Hermione was startled to notice faint streaks of gray at his temples. "I know. But I don't want people to think I want that kind of control. I appreciate Lee telling us, but he didn't need to ask."

Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'll see to it," she repeated, "Now let's go to lunch."

He nodded and followed her over to where the elves were setting up the buffet.

Later that evening Harry was finishing up reading a report from Albert Ford concerning his efforts to open up the Colombian government. So far the government was not willing to talk to the Weyr. The Colombians weren't against dragons in any way, but Albert Ford had learned that they were very unhappy over the issue of autonomy.

It concerned Harry because Colombia had several former reserves in their territory and they would either become a manned Weyr, or he'd have to find countries to relocate them to. If Colombia wouldn't accept an autonomous Weyr, he'd had no choice but to relocate those Weyrs.

He was indulging himself in a bit of rare late night office work. Hermione was down in London, getting ready to attend a contract meeting the following morning with Maggie Sheppard. May was also in London, working on a project for school. Such nights rarely happened anymore and Harry always felt a little disconnected when it did. It was like the girls had created an atmosphere that he deeply missed when they were gone.

He looked up from his reading and noted Cheki still in his spot. "Cheki, why don't you head on home? I'll be along in about an hour. At least there you'll be able to watch the telly or read something instead of watching me read this report," he said.

Chekiath cracked an eye open. _"Are you sure Harry? I don't mind waiting."_

Harry waved. "Go on, I know you're itching to see that new Blue Planet special that Sir David sent up."

Chekiath rumbled softly. _"__Sir David is a good friend to send us those shows. __I will see you soon. Shall I tell Dobby to have your evening tea ready?"_

Harry smiled. "Yes please."

He watched for a moment longer then he turned back to the report. He frowned and wrote a comment in the margin next to one paragraph, then he summoned an atlas from his shelf.

More than an hour passed with the only sound in the office was that of his pencil against the paper, then he heard the sound of the dragon door opening again.

"Back again Cheki?" he murmured without looking up.

"_Gordon no!"_

Harry looked up at that call and he started to turn in his chair.

Pain flashed against the back of Harry's head and his head and body hit the surface of his desk painfully. Bright spots danced in his vision and he vaguely heard a dragon bellowing in anguish before being abruptly cutoff.

"Damn you!" snarled Gordon Chapman. His mind filled with rage as Kirteth broke his bond with his rider by jumping Between.

Harry tried to push himself up from the desk when Chapman up ended his broken liquor bottle and plunged it deep into Harry's back. Harry was pushed face down into the desk again and his vision grayed out. The pain in his back was intense and crippling.

Chapman snarled something again and he reached forward to try to wrench the bottle out of Harry's back so he could plunge it in again. He paused in confusion when a pair of jaws closed around him, piercing him in dozens of places. Chapman shrieked in agony when Chekiath pulled him from the office and flung the rider behind him.

Gordon Chapman landed a good forty feet away and rolled to a bloody stop in the middle of the road. Around the Weyr dragons awoke in confusion, a dragon had committed suicide and no one knew what was happening. The dragons wanted to mourn the loss, but the intense anger radiating from Chekiath was scaring the Weyr, they didn't understand why their alpha dragon was so upset.

A siren sounded across the Weyr and lights lit up the areas around the hangars. Ronan was the first to arrive on the scene after Chekiath, urged on by a frightened Garanoth. He skidded to a halt at the dragon entrance to Harry's office.

He could see Harry slumped over his desk with something sticking out of his back, but he couldn't get around the outraged dragon who was spitting short bursts of flame.

"Chekiath move out of my way!" he bellowed.

The large dragon was blocking the entrance to the office. Chekiath turned his head to glare at Ronan, his eyes a solid bright red. Flames lapped from his nostrils and Ronan suddenly realized he was seconds from being burned alive by a dragon that wasn't in control of himself.

"Chekiath no!" May yelled. She appeared overhead on Trath dressed in her pajamas. She was shivering with cold and it was obvious that she hadn't waited around to dress properly before jumping home. A moment later Hermione appeared, in the same condition.

"_Chekiath, what's wrong?"_ asked Comaloth.

The redness in the great dragon's eyes dimmed slightly. _"Harry is hurt. Kirteth's rider attacked him. In shame Kirteth jumped Between."_

The dragon moved backwards slightly and both girls landed in the street while Ronan rushed past Cheki to get to Harry. Ronan skidded to a halt and fumbled for his phone. A moment later it was ringing the security duty watch office.

Both girls rushed into office and stopped in their tracks. Harry was a mess, there was a bottle sticking out of his back and he was bleeding heavily from a head wound. He also smelt like a distillery.

"I need an ambulance at Harry's office right now, and send some security here as well," Ronan said, then he ended the call.

"What do we do?" whispered Hermione.

"Nothing," May said firmly. "He's badly injured, but he's alive or Chekiath wouldn't be here. We need to wait for someone trained in this to help him."

She moved closer and felt for a pulse. She was relieved to find it seemed alright to her. On the other hand, he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, which was not a good sign. What little she knew of human medical treatment came from her first aid classes taught by the Red Cross. Harry's head injury looked a lot worse than it actually was. May was certain anything she did could risk injuring him further.

Chekiath bellowed again and both girls looked out the dragon doorway. Trath and Comaloth were between Chekiath and the still form of Chapman. Several riders were clustered around him and it appeared as if they were trying to administer first aid.

"_Move out of my way,"_ Chekiath snarled, he made a deep barking like sound that caused every dragon present to flinch away, but Trath and Comaloth held their ground.

"_You cannot do this Chekiath,"_ Comaloth said. _"You stopped Kirteth's rider from hurting Harry more. But if you kill him you will cause many problems for the Weyr. You cannot kill him now that he__'s__ not a threat. Leave it to the humans to solve."_

Cheki bellowed in anger and he shot flames a good forty feet into the air. Every dragon flinched back from him. Comaloth and Trath cowered in front of him, but held fast.

May sprinted out of the office and ran to stand in front of Chekiath. She reached up and managed to grab onto his lower jaw, pulling his head down so she could look him in the eye. She knew she was risking her life by what she was doing, but someone had to reach through the anger Chekiath was feeling. "Cheki," she said urgently. "Let Major Atkins take care of Chapman now. We have more important things to worry about. Listen to your consorts."

"_I do not wish for you to get into trouble Chekiath," _Trath said. _"If the humans hurt you because you killed Kirteth's rider, it would kill Harry, and the rest of us."_

"Cheki, please?" May pleaded.

It was the fear that slowly penetrated the fog and anger in Cheki's mind. This was Cheki just one step away from the time of the beasts, with no control, until he felt the fear coming from his consorts and their riders. Hermione stood only a few feet in front of her dragon as if she could block him from flaming Comaloth, it was clear she was afraid, not for her own life, but for that of her dragon and her family.

His consorts were afraid, and their riders were afraid of him! He had allowed his anger to get out of control.

Slowly the angry red faded to streaks of black and yellow in Chekiath's eyes. He lowered his head nearly to the ground in shame. _"Harry will be well?"_ Chekiath asked hesitantly.

May glanced back towards the open doorway and she could see Doctor Sheppard and Madam Pomfrey, each working their own form of magic.

"I think so," she said hopefully, then she knelt and wrapped her arms around the huge dragon's neck. "I hope so."

She saw Remus and Sirius nearby, which explained how Madam Pomfrey had arrived here so quickly. That both of Harry's friends watched worriedly was something she didn't bother sharing with Cheki. The dragon was barely keeping himself in check as it was. The last thing they needed would be for him to lose control now.

Hermione came around from behind and put a hand on May's back. She gently tugged her away from Cheki so that they could observe what was happening around them.

A military ambulance pulled up to the curb and four men exited from the vehicle with two stretchers between them. Two went towards Harry while the other two headed for Chapman.

Chekiath growled deeply and smoke wafted from his nostrils.

"Cheki," Hermione said sternly, warning the big dragon to not interfere. Both girls were now trying to help the huge dragon. There wasn't anything they could do for Harry except wring their hands and worry. At least by helping Cheki they were helping Harry, and the Weyr. There wasn't a rider present that didn't understand that Chekiath had come within a dragon's breath from killing an unconscious human. And no rider would have blamed him had he done so, but the government might not be so forgiving.

Everyone present knew that Chekiath had gravely injured Chapman, and they could understand and condone the reason for it. But they knew the law would be firmly against any further action even if the dragons didn't understand it.

"_But my Harry!"_ protested Cheki.

Dronth landed next to Norendrath and he turned his head to look at Chekiath. _"It is time to let the humans handle this Chekiath. You defended your rider as is your right, but the humans have laws which now must be followed,"_ the elder dragon said firmly.

Chekiath bowed his head and both of his consorts moved up closer and rubbed their heads against his to comfort him. Both girls could sense something happening in their bond, but it wasn't directed at them so they only felt the edges of it.

Dronth turned to May and Hermione. _"__You have calmed Chekiath enough that his __consorts __can now__ see to their mate. Now __it is time for you to attend to you__r__ mate.__"_

"I do believe we've just been dismissed," murmured a surprised Hermione. Dronth had succeeded Spath as the elder dragon for the planet and while he was an excellent elder, he was in someways more formal and aloof than Spath ever was. To Dronth, May and Hermione had one job only and that was to support the Weyrleader. He appreciated what they did for the Weyr, but keeping the Weyrleader happy and healthy was their main task in his opinion.

May grunted softly in acknowledgment and she started to walk back to Harry's office. She was surprised to see they had loaded Harry onto the stretcher and had an IV already going. Both girls stopped near Remus and Sirius who watched grimly.

Dobby appeared and handed both girls a heavy robe which they gratefully slipped on.

"How is he?" asked Hermione in a whisper.

Remus started, then he glanced over to her. "Issac thinks that Madam Pomfrey has saved Harry from having to undergo surgery. She transfigured the glass shards in his back to water. On the other hand he has a punctured lung and several broken bones. Issac wants to send Harry to hospital so they can deal with the head wound. Madam Pomfrey is going to fix his lungs, but leave the rest of the damage alone. Issac pointed out this is now a muggle crime and that limits the amount of healing we can do."

Issac nodded to one of the ambulance attendants, then he stood and walked over to where the four stood watching. "We're moving him to the clinic where an air ambulance will pick him up. I'm sending him to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary," he said softly.

"Wait, why? I don't understand, isn't Madam Pomfrey going to heal him?" Hermione asked in confusion, then trailed off as Issac shook his head.

"Poppy did heal the damage to his lungs," Issac replied patiently, "but Harry has a head injury with a very deep cut; and if there is one thing the incident with Lee Jordan taught me, it was that magical medicine isn't so good when it comes to injuries involving the spinal cord or the brain. Madam Pomfrey doesn't like it, but we need to leave most of the injuries alone so they can be documented.

"He'll undergo a MRI to make sure he isn't bleeding inside his head. I don't think he is, but I want to make sure. I don't have the equipment on hand or the expertise to run that kind of test. The Royal Infirmary will handle him and they'll make sure he's well cared for in the process. They'll also deal with the cuts to his back and his ribs. The dangerous damage has already been fixed."

"Girls," Sirius said, "take a breath, then go get changed. It'll take Harry at least an hour to reach the hospital then we'll all go see what we can find out."

Hermione nodded, then glanced over to see May practically in tears. She stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her friend. "It'll be fine," she said softly. "Harry's had worse than this."

Hermione and May stood silently while they loaded Harry into the ambulance. A second one had already left the scene with Chapman. Sirius placed a hand on their shoulders. "He'll be fine, you'll see," he said softly. "Come on, let's get you home and dressed, then we have to get Cheki to Glasgow."

**Glasgow Royal Infirmary, July 2000...**

It was the pain that forced him awake. His head pounded mercilessly and his chest ached painfully. He tried to think about what had happened, but he was drawing a blank. All he knew was that he was laying on a bed, on his stomach, he hated laying on his stomach. He rolled over gingerly on his back and sucked in a breath at the pain it caused.

"_Harry? Are you feeling better?"_ Chekiath asked, his voice was laced with worry and hope.

He winced, Chekiath hadn't spoken loudly but it caused his head to pound heavily. _"I'm not sure mate. What happened?"_ he sent back, then he sighed and opened his eyes finally.

"_Kirteth's rider attacked you, I came as quickly as I could but he had already hurt you by the time I arrived,"_ Cheki said sadly. _"Now things are all confused and angry at the Weyr."_

"Hey it's okay Cheki, you did your best," he whispered in reply.

A door opened and a face moved into his view. "You're awake Mr. Potter? You really should have stayed on your stomach, you have a nasty wound on your head and your back."

"Where am I?"

The nurse smiled at him, then leaned over and stuck a machine in his ear for a moment when it beeped, she removed the electronic thermometer and said, "You are in Glasgow at the Royal Infirmary. You were brought in last night quite unconscious. It was quite a shock to come in this morning for my shift and find the hospital covered in dragons let me tell you! Why one of your cheeky friends decided to sleep in the director's parking slot."

She didn't need to mention that the dragon took up a lot more space than just a single parking slot. Harry gave her a weak grin. The nurse was an older woman that reminded her somewhat of Madam Pomfrey.

"This morning we had to have one of your people ask the dragons to move from our helipad," she added, sounding a bit put out. It was okay to inconvenience the director, but preventing the sick from arriving was nearly a crime in her book.

She moved over to a chart and wrote something down then she turned back to Harry. "You're doing rather well all things considering. The doctor said you might need something for a headache when you woke up?"

Harry nodded slowly, any quick movement would have hurt too much. She smiled a grandmotherly smile and pat his hand. "Well I'll be back in a jiffy with something. Breakfast will be in half an hour, then the doctor will see you, after that you'll be able to receive visitors."

"How long will I be here?"

The nurse stopped at the door and turned back to him. She smiled again. "I don't think it will be too long. You needed some stitches and some x-rays last night. Most of that was taken care of pretty quickly. The doctor will tell you more, and I suspect the director will want his parking spot back sooner than later."

Harry waited until the door closed behind her, then he turned his head towards the window. "All right Cheki, tell me the bad news. I can feel you're holding something back."

There was a moment of silence and his inner tension built higher. _"After yesterday's Weyrleader's mast, Kirteth's rider grew very angry. He started thinking bad thoughts and Kirteth couldn't calm him down. He also spent most of his day drinking. Kirteth had mentioned to Dronth that there was something wrong with his rider, like a part of his mind that felt like it was growing sick, but __the __healer__ didn't find anything wrong with him. _

"_After Kirteth's rider attacked you, Kirteth jumped Between in shame."_

Harry closed his eyes and moaned slightly. Chekiath didn't need to elaborate any further. A dragon had killed himself because he couldn't stand the shame of his rider's actions. "Oh no," he whispered.

"Weyrleader? Mr. Potter, are you all right?" asked the nurse. Harry wasn't aware she had returned.

His eyes sprang open. "Yes," he stammered. "I'm sorry, my dragon was just explaining what happened last night."

The nurse handed him a cup of water and a couple of pills, then she sat on a chair next to the bed and leaned forward. "Your dragon is really speaking to you?" she asked. "And here I was afraid I would have to report you being delusional."

Harry smiled faintly. "Cheki, say hello to... I'm sorry, but what is your name?"

"Mrs. Robinson, I'm one of the senior nurses for the floor," Mrs. Robinson replied.

"_Hello Nurse,"_ Chekiath said, _"is a nurse like a healer or a doctor?"_

Mrs. Robinson's eyes bulged in her head and she sucked in a breath in surprise. "My lord, the tales are true, it's like someone is speaking right inside my ear!" She looked around a bit wildly as if she expected Chekiath to be hiding under the bed.

"He's on the roof," Harry said quietly. "He was telling me that there was something wrong with Chapman, the man that attacked me. He was a rider and his dragon said part of his mind was feeling strange, like it was growing sick, but his last examination came up clean. Apparently after Chapman attacked me, his dragon couldn't take the shame of what his rider was doing, so he committed suicide."

Mrs. Robinson paled and placed a hand to her heart. "Oh my," she said, then lapsed into silence for a moment, then she stood.

"Cheki," she said a bit hesitantly, "to answer your question, a nurse helps the doctors heal people."

"_Oh that makes sense,"_ Chekiath replied. _"They do seem to be very busy people."_

Mrs. Robinson took the empty cup from Harry's hand and pat it once again. "Yes, they are indeed. Do try to rest Mr. Potter, I will call the doctor and inform him you're awake. Word came from the Prime Minister's office that we're to take special care of you, so I think he'll be here straight away."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. The throbbing began to ease off as the pain medications kicked in.

He dozed for a while then he awoke to someone prodding him. "Eh? What?" he mumbled.

A young woman in a white coat smiled at him apologetically. "I'm sorry to wake you Mister Potter, but I'm Doctor Nugent, I'm the chief resident. Your own physician, Doctor Sheppard will be here shortly along with Doctor Upton our chief of neurosurgery."

Harry's eyes widened and she grinned. "Don't fret any, we have no plans to open you up. Doctor Upton was called in last night to check your MRI and check my stitch work. Your doctor didn't think there was a problem, but you were bleeding badly and your doctor didn't want to risk missing something."

It was obvious that Nugent didn't like the idea of someone having to check her stitch work, but she couldn't exactly tell off the chief of her department.

The door opened and Hermione and May slipped inside. Doctor Nugent turned and frowned. "I'm sorry, but you can't come in..."

"It's all right," Harry said quickly. "They are with me."

Nugent turned and gave Harry an astonished look, then the door opened again and the nurse entered, pushing a cart with breakfast on it. She saw that Harry wasn't alone reached for a tray on her cart and pulled out two more cups for the girls.

Nugent frowned and made a notation on the chart. With a sharp snap, she flipped it closed and left the room.

May watched with a bit of a smirk, she could understand the woman's attitude. Here on the ward, she was in charge and Harry was breaking her rules.

Harry waited until the nurse had left, then he turned his attention to both girls. "Cheki told me about Kirteth. I knew Chapman was a problem, but I never expected him to attack me. Chekiath also said that Kirteth said something was growing wrong with Chapman's mind," he said, then he tried to shift his position in the bed without spilling his breakfast. He wasn't able to hide the wince from the flash of pain in his chest. "How did my chest get injured?"

"Chapman hit you with a heavy bottle," May explained. "It broke against your head, then he used what was left to stab you in the back, breaking a rib and puncturing your lung. Poppy fixed the damage to your lungs before they moved you, then Issac sent you here to take care of the rest of your injuries. As far as the doctors are concerned you were stabbed in the back which resulted in a broken rib and some bad cuts, but your ribs prevented damage to your lungs."

Harry shook his head in dismay, then his eyes narrowed. "And Chapman?"

"Alive, barely. Chekiath grabbed him in his mouth and threw him over his shoulder. He landed about forty feet away, in the street," Hermione said tightly. "He's under police guard now, but the loss of his dragon has made him violently uncontrollable."

"He's here also, and there's talk that he might be totally insane," May added softly. "What ever problem he had, losing Kirteth has made it much worse. He's strapped into a bed after nearly strangling one of the nurses despite his injuries."

Harry sighed and laid his head back against the pillows, one hand came up to rub his temple tiredly. "It fits, we knew that most riders would suicide when their dragon died. Staying alive probably drove him over the edge," he said, then he looked pointed at May. "We need to look into improving our vetting process. And look into Chapman's family background to see if there was an existing history of mental problems."

"You think we shouldn't allow candidates with that kind of background?" she asked incredulously.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I think we need to consult with an expert or two to get more information. The one thing I do know is that his dragon said something was going wrong with him."

He looked around for his book of things to do, but it wasn't present.

Hermione smiled at him. "I'll add it to your list when we get home," she said.

Harry nodded and pushed his tray away, then he closed his eyes. A moment later he felt someone take his hand. He opened an eye to see May looking at him in concern. "I'm fine, just tired," he mumbled.

"It's fine Harry," Hermione said from her seat. "In fact it's to be expected, you have a nasty concussion. Chapman used a nearly full bottle on your head, that's why Issac was so worried."

"And then he stabbed you with the broken bottle while you were unconscious," spat May angrily. Her eyes glistened with tears and she angrily dashed them away.

Harry reached out and caught her hand in his, forcing her to look at him. "May, it's all right," he said.

She pulled away from him and shook her head. "No! It's not all right. Harry, you don't understand, a dragon is dead. His rider could have killed you! If Cheki hadn't arrived, he probably would have!"

"I understand far too well," he snapped back in an icy tone. He tried to sit up, but the pain left him gasping for air and collapsing back to the bed.

After a moment to gather his strength he continued. "Yesterday I punished a rider that I should have been sending off to a specialist for help. But since he impressed Chapman has been riding my arse and bucking my authority. Instead of trying to find out what was causing the problem, I stepped on him again and gave him the reason he felt he needed to attack me. Yes a dragon is dead and Chapman will probably spend the rest of his life under guard. A dragon is dead and we're down a rider who generally did his job because I thought he was merely being an arse as usual."

May flinched and paled, she hadn't meant to imply it was his fault.

"Stop it both of you," Hermione said firmly. "There is no way we could have known what was happening. Kirteth didn't share that information with anyone but Dronth and he didn't understand what was happening to Chapman. Even Spath wouldn't have known or understood what was happening with Chapman. There's no one to blame, it happened and we'll learn from it. Yes it's painful to lose a rider and dragon, but none of us could have foreseen this. Fighting over it is a waste of time."

Harry leaned back into his pillow and sighed. "May, I'm sorry," he said softly, his anger rapidly turning to shame. She nodded and smiled weakly back at him. She started to move closer when the door opened. Nurse Robinson entered the room and quickly removed his breakfast tray. As soon as she walked out of the room Sirius entered.

"Your looking a bit peaky there Harry," Sirius said in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

"It's the hangover Siri," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't remember drinking anything, but I still smell like a distillery."

Sirius grinned, "Katherine here took care of the police for you. They wanted to send a dozen people to the hospital to interview you, but Katherine told them you were unconscious for most of the attack. You'll probably see someone later today, but I wouldn't expect them to send a troop of people."

"Thank Merlin for that," Harry said. "Honestly, I was working on a plan for opening two new Weyrs next year when I heard the dragon door open. I didn't even look up, I just thought it was Cheki coming back from the house. Both Hermione and May were in London for the night and neither of us like it much when the house is empty like that. Anyway, the door opened, I said something to Cheki and next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Sirius nodded, "We figured it was something like that. Norendrath said that Chekiath's first inkling that something was wrong was when the bond collapsed when you were hit in the head. Even if you were surprised, he would have felt it. As it stands Cheki destroyed the dragon door to your house trying to get to you."

The door opened again and Issac stepped in followed by a gray haired gentleman he didn't know. Issac nodded to the others who moved away from the bed, then he approached Harry.

"Harry, you're looking better than last night," Issac said with a smile. Although he was a doctor and a wizard, it always seemed like he had the kind of empathy for his patients that most doctors would kill for. "Allow me to introduce you to Doctor Walter Lipton, chief of Neurosurgery here at the Royal Infirmary. He came in late last night to examine your MRI results."

Harry offered his hand and the older man shook it. "I'll be brief Weyrleader, I just want to perform a few simple tests, but I'm confident that by this time tomorrow you'll be home."

Lipton shined a light in his eyes and made him track his pen with his eyes as he moved it, then he performed several more simple tests. Straightening up he grinned at Harry. "You have a moderate concussion but I'm happy to say there's no indication of anything worse. You broke one rib and the x-rays noted a few hairline stress fractures which is why your chest is taped up.

"It took eighteen stitches to close up your scalp and we'll want you to avoid getting it wet for a few more days. Your back also needed another fifteen stitches. Fortunately the stitches will dissolve on their own so you won't need to get them removed. All in all, I think you're a very lucky young man. From what I've heard about your assailant you could have been hurt a lot worse. Today you will probably feel very tired and have a headache, those are normal all things considering. If you want to doze, do so. If you feel you need something stronger for your headache or if your ribs bother you, just ring for a nurse."

He glanced over towards Sirius. "We'll keep him here today as a precaution but I don't think there will be any problems. It might be best if someone brought some clothing for him to wear, I'm afraid most of what he was wearing was ruined when he arrived in the emergency room."

"Thanks Doc," Sirius said with a broad smile.

Lipton glanced at Black and frowned, then he shrugged helplessly. Sirius' attitude annoyed him, he had worked hard to get to where he was and he disliked being called Doc. Sirius for his part, picked up the term from Remus' fiancée, Mildred who was now one of the chief research scientists for Dragons Services Ltd.

"Thank you doctor," Harry repeated. Lipton turned back to Harry and nodded.

"If you need anything, just ring the nurse and she can send for me," Lipton repeated, then he bustled from the room.

Harry nodded and yawned widely.

"I think someone needs a nap," May said, then she stood and walked over to where Harry lay and softly kissed him. "Sleep Harry, Hermione and I are going for some tea and will be back within an hour."

Sirius nodded. "I better get back to, Katherine get nervous when Norendrath and I are out visiting without her around."

Hermione looked up from kissing Harry and scowled at him. "That's because the last time you went out you caused a traffic jam trying snap a photo next to the M1 motorway," she said with a bit of exasperation.

"Hey now! It was a pretty sunset and I needed to learn how to use the camera that Katherine gave me. It's one of those digital thingies you know," Sirius said in protest.

"And the sight of a dragon on the road bank caused a traffic jam five miles long," May quipped.

"Hermione, talk to Issac about what Chekiath said about Chapman," Harry mumbled.

"I will, sleep Harry, we'll be back," Hermione replied, then she turned and motioned for Issac to follow her from the room.

Harry smiled and closed his eyes.

**Condron Weyr USA, Mid July, 2000...**

"Is that it? It doesn't seem like much if you ask me," Jared said.

Colonel Michel smiled at the young man. "No it doesn't does it? But I'm told it doesn't take much to make the measurements we need."

Over the past half year Michel had built up a friendship with the young rider. He had been one of the youngest candidates ever presented at Condron, having turned fifteen a mere month before the hatching. And as riders went, he was one of the Weyr's most introverted and shy riders in the Weyr.

Now, some two years after his impression and Jared still had trouble dealing with the female riders. One of his closest friends had helped him when Milth rose by convincing one of the girls to go to him. He was generally liked and he was a hard working rider who did whatever task he was assigned without complaint, but even with Milth and a girl interested in him, it was hard for him to come out of his shell.

The only time he really became animated was when he was flying, or talking about flying. It didn't matter if he was talking about dragons or flying airplanes, it was his one great passion and his one great weakness.

Jared looked up from examining the small box with a switch and what looked like a camera shutter. "And you cleared this with Doctor Standish?" he asked.

Doctor Standish was the head of the NASA run research facility at Condron. NASA ran the research facility and managed all of the US led projects in the Weyr. The government had opted to put NASA in charge since it was a civilian agency and not a military one.

"Of course, of course, in fact he personally told me that he thought you'd be perfect for using the monitor since you are always flying your dragon," Michel replied smoothly. In fact Standish and Michel did have a conversation about Jared and other riders, but never once did Michel mention any special testing. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly a truth either.

Jared smiled and glanced over to the apartments block where his dragon was napping in the sun and couldn't help but smile.

"So what do I have to do?" asked Jared.

"Just hang this from your harness and make sure you wait at least four minutes after you turn it on before going Between. I'm told the unit needs to charge up so it can take it's measurements," Michel said, trying to sound as if he was unsure exactly what it did. As far as Jared was concerned Michel was in charge of moving data and equipment from various research projects and was primarily a pilot. He made it sound like he didn't really know what the machine did. "Every night you need to plug it into a wall socket to recharge. I'll pick it up in two weeks and hand it back over to the scientists to download the data."

Jared glanced down at the simple looking machine. "That doesn't seem too hard," he mumbled.

Michel put an arm around Jared. "I also managed to talk one of our chiefs into building another F-86 model, I should have it for your collection when I pick up the data collector."

Jared looked up at the older man and beamed a huge smile. He had a large collection of model planes and he was still missing the F-86.

Michel pat Jared on the back. "So I'll see you in two weeks then?"

Jared nodded. This wasn't the first time he had performed little jobs for Colonel Michel, most of them had been fairly innocuous although once he did have him take some photos from the air of a building in Mexico. Colonel Michel said it was a favor to a friend in the Drug Enforcement Agency. The fact that the building was on a Mexican Air Force base and contained dozens of antennas meant little to Jared who 'knew' the Mexicans had a corrupt government.

Eight days later Jared carelessly hung the measuring device from his harness and never noticed that when he mounted his dragon he jostled the unit so that the aperture was pointed directly at his calf.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries...**

*** **This chapter is published early due to the national holiday. The next chapter will be published on the appropriate Saturday.

* A number of people decided that they had to inform me that the Danes have no nuclear power plants. Silly Danes, this is fiction. My version of Denmark does have nuclear power, live with it or I'll also make your Prime Minister a Squirrel loving midget with delusions of wanting to be a waste basket in a women's restroom.

Fiction is like that, it doesn't necessarily have to contain a lot of truth. Things happen because I need them to happen.

I have worked hard to find out names of people and the like, but I can't check every fact in this story and maintain any reasonable publishing schedule. This also applies to the people that insist on saying someone's name is gender wrong. All I can do is point to the websites that list typical names used in countries, sorted by gender and tell you that until you can get them to change their lists, I am going to assume it's you that is wrong.

The Internet doesn't lie. I read that once on the Internet, on the Fox News website I think, and we all know those people wouldn't lie.

* A question was raised about some countries having compulsory military service. If you all recall back in Book I, Gordan Chapman was pulled from the British Army version of boot camp and after he impressed, he never returned to service. Part of the Weyr treaty with each host nation excludes the riders from any military service, even in times of War. I had thought that was clear, but apparently not so I'll say it here. No military service for any rider is allowed. The benefits from having a Weyr in country outweigh missing out on having less than 500 people serve in uniform.

* Barkeeper, well you did point out that the currency was available as early as 1999 for accounting purposes and Karen, the Weyr's CFO is a far thinking individual when it comes to modern accounting practices. Also, see my first note of this Mockeries section about fiction. It applies.

* Disasters will happen and real events will be seen through different lenses in this story. We may not see every major disaster in detail, to do so would quickly become repetitive. As a former member of a local volunteer SAR unit I know every emergency was a learning experience that changed our future responses. That's going to happen to the Weyr just like it happens in real life.

* The Loyal Executioner is in trouble with her hubby for missing their "Dating Anniversary" so that she could read books 1&amp;2 and catch up to here. Obviously hubby doesn't understand the importance of fan fiction and must be eliminated. Any volunteers?

* And finally I have been asked to include a list of Weyrs and people. That would be too much and frankly giving you that list would include people and places you haven't seen yet. The best I will be able to do is provide a table at our Yahoo group listing the Weyrs, Weyrleaders and dragons. I honestly did try to include one here, but this system is poorly suited to displaying a neatly formatted table. What I ended up with was a total unreadable mess. I will try to get something up soon at the Yahoo group, but not until after the holiday.


	7. Chapter 7

**Standard Disclaimer:**

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"What the hell are you doing?" shouted Bob. He stared at the huge blank spot in the disclaimer in dismay.

Alyx was busy typing something up at the top of the disclaimer, then every so often she'd shove the text down in a lurching motion that makes you sick to your stomach.

"I'm writing a disclaimer that you wanted. Since you didn't specify what color to use, I'm doing it in invisible pixels," Alyx replied happily. "Isn't it wonderful? They are all the rage because they use less power than regular pixels."

Bob looked at Alyx, then back to the huge blank spot. "So it's telling people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon Riders of Pern?"

"Thats right! It has everything one could want in a disclaimer."

Bob glanced back to Alyx, then back to the huge blank spot. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How do I know that you haven't written something about Snape and Draco again? I mean you spent the entire last book writing about them."

"Nope, it's all disclaimer," Alyx promised, then she showed the audience her crossed fingers.

Bob sighed and shrugged, then he walked away mumbling to himself, clearly unhappy that Alyx had finally done something he couldn't complain about.

Alyx watched him in amusement as he walked away then she turned to the audience. "Truthfully, I did write a disclaimer in invisible pixels, I might have added that I offered Snape ten thousand dollars from Bob's bank account for a bronze casting of his willy, and I did mention that Bob's farts smell like dead monkey balls, but who's gonna know?"

Alyx smiled and skipped off the stage as the chapter started to play while the audience didn't want to know how she knew what dead monkey balls smelled like.

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 7  
Intrigue and Farewells**

* * *

**Campbeltown Weyr, Mid September 2000...**

Harry surveyed his new office with a sour look. After the Chapman's attack, his office had been relocated to another part of the building and a newer, more secure door had been installed that only a dragon capable of controlling their weight could open. Chekiath would simply stand on a special platform and increase his weight to several tons, that caused the platform to depress slightly, opening the door. The human switch had been removed and replaced with a key lock switch. Now all of the human switches to the dragon doors were receiving similar modifications but only Harry had the dragon pressure switch control.

His office was plush compared to his old one, with a fancy desk and chair and real wood paneling. Karen and Hermione insisted that his old utilitarian office just wasn't suitable for The Weyrleader even if he thought it was just fine. When he expressed that opinion Hermione told him that appearances were important and he needed to keep up appearances just like any other leader.

His wall was now dotted with photos of famous people that he had met, but mixed in among those photos were pictures of the people he considered family, May, bundled up in her winter coat with a light dusting of snow on her shoulders and a very red nose, Hermione, surrounded by books, even pictures of Sirius and Remus and of course, dragons.

And despite his comment about how pretentious he thought the office was, it was also a bit comforting to be surrounded by those photos of friends and family and it helped ease a deep rooted longing because he never appeared in any photo on the walls of his childhood home.

Sinking into the plush high back leather executive chair he flipped the switch to turn on his computer and started thumbing through his regular mail while the machine booted up.

His recovery from the attack had been brief, the headache had faded two days after he left the Royal Infirmary. His girls however had a longer recovery time. Both girls had been frightened by the attack and even though his injuries weren't life threatening, they needed some serious reassurances from Harry before they settled down.

May in particular found the whole incident very disturbing and it resulted in several nights of nightmares that woke up both Harry and Hermione. Chapman's actions had triggered a deep rooted anxiety which she had managed to suppress for a number of years. It was only in talking to May's mother that Harry learned of the difficulties she encountered after that boy attempted to assault her.

Harry didn't explain what he had learned to Hermione, but he did include her in a conversation that lasted well into the night. There were tears and many hugs all around before they finally settled down to sleep just a few hours before dawn. Harry wouldn't tell either girl, but he felt that Chapman's attack brought them all even closer together as a family. It was a silver lining on a very dark event for the Weyr and for Harry personally.

As for Chapman himself, he was still undergoing evaluation but it was looking more and more like he would spend his days in a hospital rather than a prison. The loss of his dragon had hastened whatever illness he had been developing. He was physically violent to the point of incoherence and dangerous. The doctors were strongly recommending that he be committed and it looked like the crown was going to agree with them.

When the intercom buzzer sounded he reached for the button. "Yes Janay?"

"Harry, Karen, May and Hermione are here asking to speak with you."

"Send them on in," he replied.

The door opened and the three women filed in. His smile slowly dropped from his expression when he noted the grim expression on the three women. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, and then he stood up.

Hermione walked around to his side of the desk and gently pushed him away from the desk, then she bent over and opened a bottom drawer. "Is this what you are talking about Karen?" she asked.

Karen's eyes narrowed, "That's them," she said with a touch of anger.

Hermione reached into the drawer and pulled out a fist full of checks and placed them on the desk. "Why aren't you cashing these Harry?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "It's not like I really need money, the weyr pays for all our needs."

"Harry you're messing up my accounting," Karen said angrily. "Each year I have to set aside that money into a special account just for you because you're not cashing them. I don't understand why you aren't cashing these checks, everyone of us in the Weyr draws a paycheck, which I might add was something you approved."

"How much is in that account of yours Karen?" asked May.

Karen shrugged. "Close to three million pounds not counting what he hasn't cashed yet. Is that it?"

Hermione bent over again and pulled out another two handfuls of checks.

Harry winced. "What am I supposed to do with all that money?" he said defensively, "Before I came here I didn't have a penny to my name other than my trust vault."

The tension eased in the office as the three women realized he wasn't being deliberately stubborn about the money. "I have several riders who are studying business and investing and are helping others with their money. If you'll let me, I'll set you up with direct deposit and then we'll arrange to sit down and figure out what we can do with this money for you."

Harry opened his mouth when May jumped in. "No Harry, you're not giving it all away. Someday we're going to have a family and this money will pay for things that the Weyr doesn't cover."

Harry's brow furrowed and he glanced over to Hermione. She chuckled and shook her head. He was so smart in all the ways that mattered, but in other ways, little ways, he was totally lost. "Diapers, baby food, toys, vacations. The Weyr pays for a lot, but not everything that a family might need."

Harry nodded thoughtfully and then he sighed. "To be truthful it would be blessing to not have to deal with it. Every time I turn around I kept making notes to do something about it and then I would get busy and it would slip my mind."

Karen scooped up the checks. "I'll be back later with the paperwork for a direct deposit."

Just as she turned to exit the room the intercom buzzed again.

"Yes?" Harry said, pressing the button.

"Harry, Skip Taylor is here, he says its urgent that he see you right away," Janay replied. Janay was another new addition, a rider from the seventh impression, she hadn't wanted to go to university, but instead had considerable talent in administering an office. She had approached Hermione asking if Harry needed someone who could help him organize his day and within a week found herself as Harry's administrative assistant.

Harry glanced up at his clock on the wall and frowned. Given the time difference between Campbeltown and Condron, Skip was up very late. "Send him on in," Harry replied, then he stood and waited for Skip to enter the room.

"I guess we'll have to pick this up later ladies," he said with a wan smile.

"You bet we will," May replied. May was a very frugal person and had been shocked to discover Harry was sitting on so much money and doing nothing with it. She turned and followed Karen from the room.

Hermione paused at the doorway, "It's not a bad thing Harry, I just wish you had told us about it. We could have helped you."

He nodded and she smiled brightly at him, then she turned and exited the room.

A moment later Skip entered looking very tired and even more worried. Harry hoped nothing was wrong, but even without him speaking he could see there was a major problem somewhere. Skip was the co-leader of Condron Weyr along with his now wife, Kat, the pair had an interesting and tumultuous courtship followed by a wedding reception that left three Weyrs intoxicated.

"Skip, come in, have a seat," Harry said, and then he gestured to one of the chairs. "Something is wrong isn't it?"

Harry walked over to a table that contained coffee and tea and poured Skip a drink. They knew each other well enough by now that he knew how Skip preferred his coffee. After handing Skip a cup, he sat back on his chair and gestured, "Now then, what's so important that you need to come here when it's two in the morning your time?"

Skip took a sip of his coffee, then he placed the cup on his desk. "We have a big problem. One of my riders, Jared Wilkson, came down with an injury. At first it appeared to be some kind of burn on his leg, but then more symptoms appeared. I've been up all night considering what our doctor told me. I haven't even told Kat about it yet, she's off visiting her sister who just had a baby, so she doesn't know anything except that Jared got hurt somehow."

"And?" pressed Harry.

"Our doctor is beyond alarmed at this point, he says, and I quote, 'Jared appears to be suffering from acute radiation sickness.'." Skip said unhappily.

Harry sat up in his chair and leaned forward. "He's what?"

"That was my reaction as well, but Doc Wilson has some patients that require radiation treatments for cancer, so he read up on radiation sickness. Normally patients stop radiation treatments before they get too sick but Jared has all the classic signs. He first went to see Doc Wilson about a bad burn on his leg. Jared isn't being treated for any cancer, he wasn't sick at all. He just woke up one morning with a mark on his leg that hurt like crazy," Skip replied.

Harry blinked at him stupidly and Skip chuckled, then he stood and walked over to the spot where Harry kept the coffee and tea, next to that table was a tiny refrigerator. Skip bent down and pulled out a can of Coke Cola and held it up for Harry. "It's about as long as this and as wide, running along his calf. It's as if someone carefully traced the can on his leg and burned just within that spot. Damnedest thing ever, according to Wilson it has sharp edges."

Harry nodded grimly. "You're leading up to something Skip, what is it?"

Skip put the can back into the fridge and sat back down. He sunk low in his chair and wiped a tired hand over his face. "Jared told us about an Air Force Colonel that he had befriended. The man asked him to take some readings with a machine whenever he went Between. Supposedly the thing was smart enough to know when to take the readings and when not to. Jared said the Colonel had told him it was an approved experiment. It wasn't approved by the committee or by Doctor Standish. This was the first we even heard about it."

Harry glanced up at his large world map and let the silence draw out for several minutes. Finally he turned back to Skip. "Will Jared live?"

"Doc Wilson thinks he will, but he also said that there's a fifty fifty chance of him developing bone cancer in the next twenty years. He recommends annual screening to check for that," Skip replied. "Treating Jared is a problem for Wilson, he's an old country doctor that only visits the Weyr a few times a week. He has had to look up how to treat radiation sickness, it's not something doctors see every day."

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding and he nodded. "Alright, next question, what do _you think_ we should do?"

Skip looked pained. "Harry I'm not really sure. I came here tonight without telling Kat, she's going to be pissed as hell at me but I needed to talk to someone. I suppose I should have waited until she got home, or called her, but I thought you should know about this immediately."

Harry leaned back in his chair. "Very well, let's try it their way first. Inform Jasper Brady and Doctor Standish that I want to speak with them. If you can, bring along your Doctor Wilson as well. Tell Doctor Wilson to email everything he can to Doctor Sheppard here. Issac is by no means an expert, but I'm sure we can find someone who can look at it and give us another opinion.

"As to Jasper and Milton, I want to gage their reactions to this. If this is some kind of trick to bypass our ban on weapons research they may give themselves away by their reaction," Harry said tensely, then he waved towards the map. "Minnewanka is due to open after this next hatching. The Canadians have finished building the physical plant, now it's just sitting there idle. If necessary and we have to make a point to the Americans, we'll evacuate Condron to Minnewanka, it's an option under clause fifteen of our treaty with the Americans."

Skip winced. "I don't really want to leave the states," he said quietly.

"And I don't want you to either Skip. But our primary responsibility isn't to do what we want, it's to do what is necessary to safeguard the lives of our riders and dragons," Harry countered. "You know we must remain neutral and be seen as to be above national interests. Dragons helping any country with weapons research will ruin that image. If it became public knowledge that dragons were helping military units in matters other than humanitarian, there'd be chaos and the Weyrs would probably end up being taken over."

Skip flushed slightly and nodded. He did know that and he believed it with all his heart. It was just that he never expected his own country to endanger his dragons like this. A rider was injured, perhaps severely and it was done by a representative of the US Military.

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr...**

Three days later, Skip returned with his wife and co-Weyrleader Kat, they brought with them Doctor Standish, Jasper Brady and the Condron Weyr doctor, Ed Wilson.

Harry sat in his chair watching the group enter his office. Jasper was the only one to seem surprised that Harry did not smile or get up to greet his guests.

Harry waited until everyone was seated, before he began. "I asked Skip and Kat to escort you here today because I am facing a big decision, one which I am struggling to deal with."

"Harry?" said Brady worriedly. It was clear from Harry's tone that something big was in the works and it was even more clear that he was angry about something.

Harry held up a hand, then he turned to Milton Standish. "You are aware by now that one of Condron's riders has been severely injured? And that the rider claimed that he was told that he'd be performing an approved experiment. An experiment that I might add that was not vetted by our science and technology committee?"

Milton frowned and nodded. "Yes I know about Jared's injury, but if he was performing any experiment then it was something that didn't pass through my office Harry. You know that I funnel all research requests to Campbeltown. We barely have enough people to conduct the research we're already doing and I can't see anyone slipping something on the side, we're just too busy."

Harry nodded, satisfied with the answer. He knew Milton well enough by now to know the man was a dedicated administrator who had personally turned down several projects as being too dangerous to a dragon or a rider.

He glanced over towards Doctor Wilson and smiled at the man. Unlike Campbeltown's doctor, Wilson didn't live at the Weyr, he was just an old country doctor that lived in the area and was happy to help out. "Doctor Wilson, I am pleased to meet you although I do wish it had been under better circumstances. I do thank you for sending Jared's case file to us. We forwarded it on to Professor Scott at Cambridge. His email reply that I received this morning was very interesting."

Standish looked up sharply. "Scott? Professor Stanley Scott from Cambridge university?"

Harry nodded, then he glanced over towards Brady and the others who seemed confused. "Sir Stanley Scott is one of those rare scientists who straddle multiple fields. Officially he is a medical doctor and a physicist. He is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of human exposure to radiation. At my request, he gave a brief look over of Jared's case file which Doctor Wilson forwarded to us."

"And what did he report?" pressed Standish.

Harry picked up a printout. "He said that from the clean lines of the injury and from the radiological testing that it appeared as if Jared was exposed to a Gamma radiation source at close range. He then went on to talk about the possible source being something called a GRASER or a device similar in nature."

Harry frowned for a moment, then he ruefully looked up from the paper. "I have to admit that I had to look up what a GRASER was. I had never heard of a Gamma Ray Laser before, but Professor Scott says gamma rays are a particularly dangerous type of radiation, even moreso when focused via lasing. He went on to suggest that perhaps someone was hoping to find out something useful by exposing Between to a controlled gamma ray burst. He wishes he had been able to examine the device and says without it, or at least more information about the device he can't say for sure that his ideas are correct.

"Sir Scott added that he believed Jared didn't receive a full on exposure, but rather he was grazed by the beam, which explains it's unusual shape."

Harry paused and looked at the Americans for a moment. Standish looked thoughtful as he considered Sir Scott's ideas while Brady appeared to be confused by the information. "Needless to say I was surprised to discover that Jared had been asked to carry a device that could have killed him with a direct hit. As it stands he has an increased risk of developing cancer now and will need to be checked every year for the rest of his life. If he does come down with cancer and it kills him, then we'll also lose his dragon. The loss of Jared and Milth is unacceptable to the Weyr."

Harry turned until he was directly looking at Jasper Brady. "Which leads me to my next question. Mr. Brady, why is it that a high ranking member of the US. Military is handing out lethal hardware to one of my riders? Is this an officially sanctioned act by the US Government or something orchestrated by a single group without official permission or is this mysterious Colonel operating independently and covertly against America? These are the questions you need to find answers to."

Harry pointed up at the calendar on the wall. "I have spoken with the Canadians. As you know we were planning on opening up Minnewanka this coming year. As it stands they are willing to receive Condron's entire compliment of dragons should the need arise."

Jasper's jaw dropped and there was a sudden chilling silence in the room. Skip had forewarned Kat about what Harry intended so she controlled her reaction. "The Canadian government was delighted with the idea of adopting a fully staffed Weyr instead of growing one slowly. And I have the personal assurance of their Prime Minister that no military research will be carried out by the Weyr."

Milton Standish stared at Harry, then looked over at Brady expectantly. "Jasper? You know he's right. Someone slipped something past us and unless we can fix the problem it's all over."

"Not quite Doctor," Harry said softly. "You've been up front with us since we first met and I reckon I can ask the Canadians if they'd be interested in hiring you on as their research director, or barring that, Dragon Services would hire you on directly."

Standish looked at Harry in astonishment, then he shook his head. "I do appreciate the vote of confidence Weyrleader, but right now I do believe we need to hear from Jasper since he's the official government representative."

Everyone turned to look at Jasper who squirmed nervously in his seat. "Harry, let me say right from the onset that I know of no official policy changes allowing for any kind of unapproved research. When I first heard that Jared had been injured and someone from the Air Force might have been involved I asked around. This Colonel Michel doesn't seem to be attached to any unit I can find. I did discover that one of our researchers had been funneling information to Michel on a monthly basis. When I confronted the woman, she said she had been ordered to by her boss, who claimed he had been ordered to by his boss, right on up the line. A few days later I found out she's been transferred, but no one knows to where."

"So you don't know if this Michel is even a real Air Force officer?" Harry asked incredulously.

Jasper looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry Harry, but I've hit a brick wall on trying to find out more about him and who he works for. What I do know for a fact is he flies in once a month and he uses what looks like a real Air Force jet trainer. It's a modern jet and from a class still in service so I know its government property."

Harry eyed Jasper for a moment, then he nodded grimly and turned back to Skip. "Skip, if this man shows up again. Detain him, even if it means his pretty little plane gets broken in the process. I want answers and he has them."

Skip grinned evilly. "If we have to, we'll flame him down Harry. I want those answers as well."

"Harry you can't!" protested Jasper.

Harry turned back to Jasper. "Actually we can. The land grant for Condron specified that the land was always meant to be semi-autonomous from the federal government. Now we have either a very well equipped spy, or a true agent of the US government who is breaking the rules outlined in our treaty and endangering one of ours. You said you've hit a brick wall on finding him Jasper. I have no doubt in my mind that you are being honest with me. Chekiath would have said so if you weren't," Harry replied, then he jerked a thumb over this shoulder to where Chekiath lay in his bed. Harry turned towards Kat who sat silently throughout the conversation. "Kat, get one of your brewers making up a batch of veritaserum. When we catch this Mitchel I want to know his life story and then I want to know his parent's story as well."

Kat smiled knowingly. "I'll take care of it Harry."

"Veritaserum is a controlled substance in the states. And any confession you get by using it is not admissible in court unless he took the potion willingly."

Harry turned back towards Jasper and slowly stood. "You seem to think that we'll willingly follow the rules of a government that apparently has proven itself unable to hold to its treaty obligations," Harry growled. Still eying Jasper he said, "Skip if this Mitchel hasn't been apprehended before the month is out, you have permission to exercise at your discretion, clause fourteen of our agreement with the US Government. We will hold our option to exercise clause fifteen once we have a better idea of what's going on."

Skip paled and swallowed nervously; he straightened in his chair. "Of course Harry," he said softly. Kat reached out and grasped his hand in her own. A single tear ran down her cheek. No one wanted to relocate to another country but Skip had reminded her of Harry's words. Their responsibility wasn't to their wishes, it was to the safety of their riders and dragons.

The Condron Weyrleaders breathed a short sigh of relief. Clause fourteen outlined the legal options the Weyr could use to redress any issues concerning problems with the host country. Clause fifteen covered the Weyr severing association with the host country.

"Jasper," Harry said in a softer tone, but his glare was no less. "The problem here is that a crime has been committed that can seriously shorten the life span of a rider and his dragon. What I fail to understand is why you seem unwilling to recognize that fact. Doctor Wilson says that Jared's exposure to the radiation has increased his chance of contracting a cancer by as much as fifty percent. And we don't know what might happen to Milth. If that device had been hanging from my harness, Chekiath's shoulder joint would have taken a direct hit. Milth is a smaller dragon, but it still could have hit him in the wing. That he hasn't shown any symptoms is due to mere luck."

Jasper sighed and shook his head. "I acknowledge the crime Harry. I'm just stymied by my own government. The current Secretary of Magic considers himself a patriot Harry. He firmly believes that the government must sometimes bend the rules for the sake of the country. The problem is that as much as you want to catch this person, breaking the law only gives the new administration an excuse to bring stronger elements into play against you."

"And doing nothing implicitly tells them that they can continue to risk our dragons in violation of the treaty. Risk our riders and dragons and we'll ignore it? Hardly, this needs to be firmly addressed so that it never happens again." Harry retorted.

Jasper leaned back in his chair and his shoulder's slumped. He had worked tirelessly for the dragons and for the Weyr since he became the liaison, but now he was up against his own government and not at all happy with what was going on. He felt torn between trying to explain and excuse something the government might have done and his own personal need to protect the dragons which he truly believed were good for his country.

"I know I know," Jasper admitted. "Honestly I don't like what you and Skip plan, but I can understand it as well. I'm afraid the new administration won't take too well to the Weyr giving them a black eye when the press gets wind of your lawsuit."

Harry nodded and turned back to Skip and Kat. "Skip?"

"We'll catch the bastard," Skip said bluntly and Kat nodded in agreement. "If he doesn't show up in the next four weeks we'll try your idea and file a suit in every federal court we can as well as going public with it."

Harry smiled grimly.

Jasper winced, the Weyr in America had retained the services of Newman, Freidman and Mako, a ruthless firm that knew where a great many bodies were buried in the federal government and weren't afraid to use their knowledge for their clients. They were among the top five percent of the law offices in the country and had successfully completed more law suits against the government than any two other offices combined.

Harry glanced again at his calendar, "We'll meet again near the end of October. I'll inform the other Weyrleaders so they can attend. The Americans are the ones steering this mess. We'll try it within their system, but if it happens again I want you out of there. With the other Weyrs helping we can move everything in short order."

"But the law suit?" protested Milton Standish.

"Doc you can't really expect us to sit around and let things continue as they are while we wait a couple of years for a case to grind through the courts?" Skip replied mildly. "Right now it is one incident. But Harry is right, if it happens again, we'll move out and let the courts churn along at their pace. I doubt we'd ever return if we're forced to move."

"No, not really, I guess I just expected..," Milton said, then he trailed off. He shrugged in his seat as he suddenly realized exactly how serious the Weyrs were taking this situation.

Harry turned back to Jasper. "Jasper, I don't like putting you in the hot seat like this, but you Yanks make a big stink about treating everyone equal. Now is your chance to prove it's true."

"Harry," Jasper said slowly, "I will do my level best to try to get this resolved," he said fervently.

Harry eyed him for a moment longer, then his expression softened. "Yes I can believe that," he replied.

"_It scares you Rope Neck, but you shouldn't be scared,"_ Chekiath announced into the silence. _"The Weyrs have people helping them around the world that aren't riders. If Condron can't find a place for you and your family, many other Weyrs, including this one, will find a place for you."_

Harry nodded, he was about to speak but Kat beat him to it. "Of course we will," she asserted as if insulted by the idea. "Jasper has done far more than your typical government employee. He's part of our family just like Harry's godfather or Mr. Lupin."

Skip nodded in agreement and Jasper blushed deeply. He knew they expected his help and support, but also understood that he was working with people that might not wish to cooperate.

"One final note, I've arranged for Jared to see Professor Scott. Inform Jared that he's temporarily reassigned to Campbeltown for as long as his condition requires it," Harry said firmly. "He'll be returned to his home Weyr once he's cleared medically. Doctor Sheppard is arranging a special air ambulance to transport him. Please make sure you arrange a suitable escort for his dragon. Sue Bones is already setting up his housing assignment according to what Issac thinks he may need."

Skip and Kat looked surprised, then nodded in acceptance.

After a few more minutes of conversation the Americans left his office and Harry pulled a fresh pad of paper from one of his cabinets along the wall, then he sat down and started to write down a plan for evacuating Condron if necessary.

"_Do you really think it is that bad Harry?"_ asked Cheki.

Harry placed his pen down on the desk and closed his eyes. _"I don't know __mate__,"_ he admitted silently. _"What I know for certain is that a rider has been injured and there is the possibility that his life span has been significantly shortened. Wizards do not get cancer like normal people do so we can't even apply __a __magical cure for Jared. If he gets sick it will be because of that device he was exposed to. _

"_If we can't come to terms with the Americans, we'll have no choice but to relocate. We'll know for certain by then that the Americans don't really value the dragons and their riders like some other countries do."_

Harry sighed and rubbed at his temples. His head throbbed uncomfortably and it felt like his shoulders were one giant knot. He flipped a page on the pad and continued to write. As he wrote he started to understand that he wasn't generating a plan for relocating Condron, he was creating a generic plan that would apply to any Weyr.

Three hours passed in silence except for the occasional noise from Cheki. Harry was so intent on concentrating on what he was writing he never heard the door open.

Hermione and May slipped into the room and watched Harry for a moment before giving each other a knowing look. Chekiath had summoned the pair, asking that they come and make Harry relax for a couple of hours.

Hermione handed May a basket which contained two chilled bottles of wine, then she turned and walked over to where Harry sat, hunched over his paperwork. She reached out touched him lightly against the back of his neck. He started slightly and then relaxed, he knew only two people that would touch him like that.

"Cheki told us you need a break," Hermione said softly. As she spoke she continued to rub his neck and shoulders. "Since it's a Friday, May and I have decided to do something different."

May stepped around to the front of his desk where Harry could see her. She held two baskets in her hands, one containing their food, courtesy of Dobby, and the second basket containing two bottles of their favorite wine. Harry had promised Albus that he would avoid strong drinks, but Hermione had shown him that a glass or two of wine once in a while wouldn't make him drunk.

Harry's head drooped down; he was enjoying Hermione's ministrations too much to put up a fight over it. When he learned just how good Hermione was at giving a massage he asked her and discovered that she had learned it when she was nine and had to help her mother after she injured her back in an automobile accident.

"Is everything all right with Condron?" May asked.

Harry lifted his head and looked at her for a moment, then he shook his head. "Hardly. I had to put a lot of pressure on Jasper Brady which I didn't want to do. Cheki told me he's honestly frustrated by the situation."

Hermione took the small break from easing his muscles to pull chair closer to his. "And what are we going to do about it?" she asked as began to rub his shoulders again.

"Short term, we'll file a law suit against the Federal Government, and possibly evacuate Condron to Minnewanka. I've spoken to the Canadians and they say they are all ready to accept riders to man their Weyr," He replied.

"So what are you working on now? It seems that most of the work falls into Skip and Kat's lap, not yours," May said.

Harry waved one hand towards a pile of papers. "I started out working on a plan to evacuate Condron, but as I worked I suddenly realized the plan would apply to any Weyr with some minor changes only. I did some searching on the net and discovered what I was doing was one piece of a what is called a disaster recovery plan."

Hermione moved a bit closer and turned his writing pad so that it was face down on the desk. "It's a good idea, but one that doesn't need to be done right away. Right now you're taking May and I on a picnic, then we'll head over to Joensuu Weyr for a three day weekend."

Harry looked up at that. "Joensuu? Why?"

"Because Harry my love," May said softly. "The Finnish Government built too many buildings and Ismo had several converted into resort style cottages as a way to entice other riders to visit his Weyr. I've already called ahead and Ismo has reserved his best cottage for us for the weekend."

Joensuu still produced hot rocks and they had a small research facility that was currently trying to come up with a form of asphalt that could be mixed with low temperature hot rocks. Just that alone would save millions per year in snow plowing costs for the northern European countries.

Harry slowly nodded. Ismo Sippola was Weyrleader of Joensuu, and descended from a long line of Inn keepers. He approached the running of the Weyr from an entirely different angle and asked Harry if Joensuu could concentrate on providing tourist services rather than setting up another large research station.

There were six manned Weyrs at the moment and Harry quickly realized that not every Weyr had to be modeled after Campbeltown with its large research facility and slowly growing manufacturing plant. Maziang in Tibet spent most of their energies in magical research, looking for magical treatments of dragon ailments. Condron spent it's initial efforts in base lining dragons and then switched to the material sciences. Campbeltown led the way in physical application research, that is, finding new applications for hot rocks. Campbeltown also led the effort to develop treatments for a variety of dragon ailments using mundane techniques. May had a team of zoologists and veterinarians from the royal college helping her lead that effort.

For Finland and Joensuu, they were interested in trying to develop a very narrow form of tourism targeting riders and their dragons. There has always been a small group of riders that wanted to offer dragon based tours, but Joensuu had taken that idea a step further by planning to open up a resort that would allow riders to relax and still offer luxury accommodations. In short they wanted to attract other riders instead of the general public. With the numbers of riders Harry had in mind for the future, there was a need to have a place where riders could get away, free from the public eye and the press.

He nodded and gathered up his papers, then he placed them in his desk drawer. "Sounds good to me, I could use a break," he murmured.

Both girls shot him bright smiles. In the beginning of their relationship he had fought such moves like this impromptu trip. It wasn't until Dan Granger pulled him aside and explained that the girls were just looking out for him like he did for them that he stopped fighting with them over his workload.

Harry stood and stretched for a moment, then he reached out and pulled Hermione into his embrace. He kissed her deeply, and then, without looking reached for May who had moved closer for her turn.

Cheki rumbled from his place in the office and watched them contentedly. Tonight he would cover both of his consorts while Harry, May and Hermione enjoyed their own time together in their fashion.

There had been some changes over the years between the three of them. While neither girl was interested in having sex with the other present, neither girl was against the idea of joining forces to please Harry. Harry wasn't sure how they managed it, but there had been several sessions in which both girls had gotten involved in a serious groping session with Harry and then when his attention was fully distracted, one would vanish from the room.

The girls had learned that their man had enough stamina for both of them and they took advantage of that fact. May jokingly referred to it as three-way foreplay and the name stuck much to their amusement.

**Department of Magic, Washington DC, USA...**

"Mr. Secretary, Jasper Brady is here to speak to you."

Lyle 'Ducky' Jackson looked over towards the speaker-phone and frowned, then he reached for the phone so he could talk privately with his secretary.

"Mary, this Brady? Do I know.. oh wait, isn't he that holdover from the last administration, the dragon guy?"

"That's correct sir," Mary replied.

Jackson frowned deeply. When Brady asked to speak with him Jackson had done some checking in regard to Brady's interest and found that some of his inquiries run into the bureaucratic stonewall of a DOD 'Black' project.

Black projects were steel reinforced, titanium plated secrets that only a handful of people knew about. In many cases even the president didn't know about them. They obtained their name from the fact that the DOD was required by law and congress to publish their budget and each year they would include lines where the only item listed was the money spent for an unlisted and unidentified project.

Jackson was relatively new to the job, having replaced his predecessor who was, at best, only a temporary secretary. The man before that had been arrested and was now serving a life term in federal prison for treason. Because of that the current administration had searched deeply among the American wizards looking to find one that had deep roots to the country. Jackson represented the current republican administration who took the idea of deep roots and loyalty to an extreme. Jackson's family was one of the few candidates with such a connection and close ties with senior administration officials.

Whatever Brady wanted, he was not going to get it. Jackson firmly believed in the right of the government to research whatever it needed in order to protect itself. The law was bendable when it came to issues of national security.

"Alright, send him in," Jackson said, then he placed the phone back on the cradle.

The door opened and Jasper Brady stepped into the room.

"Ah Mister Brady, do come in and have a seat," Jackson said with a politician's smile. "How are things in New Mexico? Have things settled down yet?"

"Things are tense Mister Secretary. I am here at the direction of The Weyrleader and Condron's Weyrleader, looking for a clarification upon the matter which I emailed you about. It seems that a member of our military convinced a rider to take a piece of unidentified equipment with him every time he went Between. Now the rider is seriously ill with radiation sickness. As you know, the life of the rider and the bonded dragon are linked. Should the rider die, then so will the dragon."

Jackson leaned back in his chair and eyed Brady for a long tense moment. This wasn't news to Jackson, Brady had emailed him several days ago explaining the problem in detail. "You say the equipment this rider carried was unidentified?"

"Yes sir, the only thing we know for certain is that it was supplied to Jared Wilkson by a Colonel Michel. I have tried to track down this Colonel who had been, until recently, visiting the Weyr at least twice monthly but I can't even find out where he is stationed," Brady replied. "Sir I can't stress this enough, the Weyr is very unhappy about this. By their reasoning, this Michel is either a very well equipped spy, or is working with the approval of this government. Considering that he usually arrived in a Air Force jet trainer, the evidence points to Michel being a real Air Force officer."

Jackson leaned forward and waved one hand as if dismissing Brady's comments. "But as you said, the equipment that was allegedly carried by this young rider was unidentified. You have no way of knowing for certain that this mysterious machine was responsible. For all you know, he could have gotten exposed in another manner and the Weyr is just blaming Colonel Michel as a convenient scapegoat. In fact we only have one person's word that Colonel Michel was involved at all, isn't that true?"

Brady winced slightly, the Secretary's point was valid. The machine Jared carried was unknown, they just assumed it was the source of the deadly radiation.

"Sir, Jared's dragon confirmed that he received the device from Michel. You know dragons are incapable of lying," Jasper said softly.

"What I know _Mister Brady_ is that we have one person's word against another. And mind you there is no accepted court precedent that acknowledges dragons being incapable of lying," Jackson countered.

"Mister Secretary, Jared Wilkson has offered to give testimony under veritaserum, which does work on muggles," Jasper said in rebuttal.

Jackson failed to hide the flinch.

"Surely it is in our own best interests sir to try to resolve this as quickly as possible. We should seek out this Colonel Michel and have him step forward and explain his actions as well as explaining the device. There is no doubting the fact that he lied to the rider by telling him it was an approved experiment," Brady replied. "Michel explaining to Doctor Standish and Skip Taylor would put this matter to rest easily enough. It would be a great relief to Condron's Weyrleader and would mean that they would only have to concentrate on helping Jared recover."

"I'm afraid that is simply out of the question," Jackson said flatly. "When you first requested this meeting I did some discrete checking and found myself up against a security stonewall. Tell me Brady, what do you know about the black projects run by our military services?"

Jasper blinked. For years he had worked as a high level manager in the Department of Magic, specifically in Muggle Educational Liaison. His exposure to the muggle military complex was non-existent.

"Nothing sir," he said with a slight stammer.

Jackson nodded and waved his hand to an unobstructed office window. From this top floor corner office it was possible to see the White House several blocks away. "Our government is charged with protecting the people. Two hundred and eighty million people, including nearly a million wizards and witches. Because of that mandate the government oft times needs to perform things hidden from the general public. Things that would ordinarily be considered illegal to some people on the hill.

"The general public never heard about our covert strike into Quebec for example. A single night and fourteen elite bomber crews flying the most advanced airplanes we own; prevented a uprising which would have plunged our northern neighbor into a civil war. Only a handful of people on both sides of the border know about the aborted cheese rebellion of 1990. I was there myself and damn proud of it! I did my duty without question. I only tell you about it now as an example and because your oath will ensure that the secret doesn't spread.

"My point is that sometimes our government will have to do something distasteful, something borderline illegal. And that is what I think has happened here. I tried to find out about your mysterious Colonel and was told that he is attached to a black research department. When I asked for clarification I was bluntly told that I had no need to know and I wasn't cleared to be briefed on the project. And mind you Brady, I have one of the highest security clearances in the Department of Magic."

Jasper slumped back in his seat and wiped his face tiredly. "Sir with all due respect, the Weyr will not accept being stonewalled by a mantra of national security. The Weyr is prepared to seek legal action and is considering other options if they can't get a guarantee that this won't happen again and they want this Colonel Michel punished. I know for a fact that The Weyrleader has told Condron that if Michel returns to Condron again, they are to detain him by any means necessary."

Jackson's eyebrows rose to meet his hairline. "Does the Weyr feel they are above the law Mister Brady?"

"Sir, the Weyr feels that their priority is to see to the safety of the riders and the dragons. They hold no allegiance to the United States or it's government. They would like to consider the country and the government to be their friends, but right now that issue is up for debate. The Condron Weyrleader, Skip Taylor, is first and foremost a dragon rider. While no Weyr has made an issue of it, the simple fact is from the moment of impression, the rider has relinquished their citizenship in whatever country they are from. They have joined a small, elite community of dragon riders that supersedes national borders and national patriotism," Brady replied fervently. "The riders give their loyalty to their dragons, their Weyr and The Weyrleader. For all intents and purposes they are truly a separate nation within our borders."

"And that is exactly the attitude that you have to combat Brady!" snapped Jackson. "This Taylor for example, he's a good home grown Texas lad. His wife, Katherine comes from a long line of Boston witches predating the Salem trials. These are good home grown American kids who should have more respect for their country than they do. Its your job to remind them of all that the country has done for them."

Brady winced in understanding, he knew the Secretary would never see the rider's point of view. The man had been chosen for his position because of his loyalty to the country first. He was a wizard, but he considered himself a patriot even above being a wizard.

Jasper sighed, he knew that explaining the Condron Weyr had already paid for the construction of it's facilities and was quickly becoming an economic powerhouse with the country would fall on deaf ears. "Yes sir," he said softly. He was caught between a rock and a hard place and had few options open to him.

**Weyrleader's Council Meeting, Campbeltown Weyr, Late October 2000...**

Harry leaned back in his chair and watched Skip Taylor with no small amount of amusement. Skip was one of those people that absolutely needed room when he talked. He had moved to stand in front of the table where the Weyrleaders sat so he could give his report. He started off small, with a simple shifting of his feet, but within minutes he literally stalked from one end of the table to the other, gesturing as he walked.

From the glances around the room Harry knew he wasn't the only one amused by Skip's behavior.

"I've spent the last two weeks in contact with the Weyr's lawyers. They have amassed a huge pile of documentation on Jared's injury and are contacting some specialists for additional opinions and testimony. On the down side, there has been no sign of this Michel character, nor of anyone acting in his place," Skip said. "He normally visited at least once a month, spending time with Jared and time in the main research building. Doctor Standish has tried to find out who he might have visited there, but no one was willing to admit it. The one person that Jasper talked to was transferred suddenly."

"I might be able to shed some light on this Michel business," Jasper offered from his seat. He sat in among the rows of riders and others that were here to witness this meeting.

Harry nodded towards the man. "We'll get to you in a bit Jasper. I am anxious to hear what you have to say, but first let's let Skip finish his report."

Jasper smiled weakly and settled back in his chair.

"Go ahead Skip," Harry ordered.

"Well there isn't much more to say. Doc Wilson has been working with Sir Scott who offered some surprising treatment options that we weren't aware of. Finally Sir Scott spent a couple days looking over Jared's injury personally. He's refined Doc Wilson's original estimate. It's still not perfect, but he thinks that there is a thirty five percent chance of Jared contracting some form of cancer in the next twenty years. Sir Scott has been treating Jared and he's been responding well to those treatments. Doc Wilson told me that Sir Scott's efforts are more advanced than anything he could have provided, or Jared could have gotten locally. There are a few hospitals in the US that could have provided Jared with the same treatments that Jared is now getting.

"He also started Jared on an experimental test that Jared could do at home on a monthly basis for detecting any cancers. Sir Scott expects that in another month Jared can be released back to Condron and he's willing to recommend a specialist he knows in the US that can continue monitoring his condition."

"Well that's better news but still..." Lobsang murmured. The Maziang Weyrleader had worked long and hard to improve his English and had succeeded for the most part. It was only when he got excited that he slipped in old habits.

"It is better news," Issac said from his seat, then he stood. "I have been monitoring Jared's case carefully like so many of the doctors attached to the Weyrs. I know it doesn't seem like much, but a reduction of odds from fifty percent to nearly one third means more time for Jared. More time in which any problems can be caught early, more time for science to advance new treatment options. Yes Jared was dealt a crappy hand, but Sir Scott's numbers are good news."

Harry smiled softly and nodded to Issac in gratitude. "Thank you for clarifying that Issac. I take it you are impressed with Sir Scott?"

Issac blinked in surprise and nodded vehemently. "He is tops in his field and is a real scientist Harry. He's the kind of man I can admire. His treatments for Jared are just short of cutting edge and more effective than I originally thought they would be. As for Jared, he's still officially grounded, but I see no reason why he can't return to Condron at the end of next month like Sir Scott suggests and continue with the treatments under Doctor Wilson."

Harry leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. He glanced around, then zeroed in on Issac. "Thank you Issac. For the record, Sir Robert March has told me he intends to retire at the end of the year. I was wondering if we might convince Sir Scott to take over his position."

"Harry, Stanley Scott is more of a scientist than an administrator," Issac warned.

Harry shrugged. "I know that Issac, but we do need someone and now that I've met the man I think he would be a good candidate to head up our research team, we can always hire someone to do the administrative work. I've spoken with the man personally on several occasions now and he seems intensely interested in trying to figure out what Between really is."

Issac nodded, acknowledging the point and sat back down.

Satisfied, Harry turned back to Skip. "Thank you Skip, have a seat and we'll hear what our American liaison has to say."

Skip turned and moved to sit next to Kat while Jasper moved to stand in front of the table.

Jasper looked around a bit nervously and then he sighed. "I am personally pleased that Jared's chances have improved. My news is mixed at best. I met several times with the Secretary for Magic and I think I have a clearer picture now of what is going on. I have discovered that Colonel Michel received administrative punishment and has been forcibly retired from the Air Force for his role in this affair. Officially the reasons for his discharge were for inappropriate use of an Air Force aircraft which he used to fly around to various locations."

"But that doesn't have anything to do with what happened to Jared," protested Kat Taylor.

Jasper glanced over at her and nodded. "No it doesn't," he admitted ruefully. "I can tell you that Michel was attached to some top secret research project. Apparently the US Government funds some research that is so secret even the president doesn't know about them. The Secretary for Magic told me that Michel worked for such a group and told me point blank that the US Government never ever acknowledges the existence of such efforts. Any attempt to sue them in court will bog down in motions concerning national security."

"So you're saying that it's a waste of time to sue them in court," Harry asked.

Jasper nodded. "I think so, but I would strongly urge you to continue with that effort anyway. You might get lucky."

Kat leaned forward in her seat. "Jasper, off the record, what do you think?" she pressed.

Jasper sighed and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. "What I think, off the record mind you, and as a private citizen that likes dragons, is that there is a group in my country's military that is willing to break the law and put people at risk all for the name of patriotism and national security. If Michel has been canned like the Secretary of Magic says, then there is a good chance he's still being protected and is still untouchable.

"In the meantime we tighten up Weyr security and make sure everyone knows not to accept any device without an approved work order from Doctor Standish or one of his people."

"What about privatizing the research group. Pull it under DSL as another research branch?" Harry offered. "I'm certain we can easily match or exceed the salaries of the researchers we want to keep."

Brady looked up at Harry in surprise. It was something he hadn't considered. "Honestly I don't know what kind of reaction we can expect from the government Weyrleader," he replied. "But it seems to me that if you want to be one hundred percent certain of the research activities going on at Condron, privatization is the road to take."

Harry nodded and then looked around. Spotting Karen he turned his attention to her. "Karen can you and Kat sit down and put together a plan to privatize Condron's research facilities. I'm going to suggest in this case to build a new lab and then fence off the old one to isolate it from the Weyr. In the meantime, inform Doctor Standish that from here on all work involving the direct participation of a rider or dragon needs a written work order signed off by either himself or someone he designates or the Weyrleaders. Tell him that I trust him to see to the safety of the dragon and the rider."

Karen nodded as she typed furiously into her laptop, finally she looked up and smiled. "Got it Harry, I'll speak to Kat after this meeting to set up a meeting to go over the details."

He glanced over to Kat who smiled in agreement, then he turned back to Jasper. "Thank you Jasper, for both your honesty and your diligence. I want to make it plainly clear, the Weyrs understand the difficult position you find yourself in and should it come down to a decision between your conscience or your job, the Weyr is ready to hire you if need be."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Jasper said softly.

Harry chuckled, "So do I Jasper, we need you where you are. In the meantime I think we have a feel for our options. Skip we'll proceed with the law suit for now. Karen and Kat will work up a plan and budget to build our own research facility at Condron. Finally before everyone goes, Hermione has a document which I wrote for each of you. I'm going to ask that you review it and suggest any changes. When the possibility arose of evacuating Condron, I started to write up a list of what needed to be done. The more I wrote the more I realized it was a general document that any Weyr could use. Please read and submit your comments via email to Hermione. She's coordinating putting this together as a standard item for all Weyrs."

Hermione smiled from the table where she had been taking the minutes of the meeting. Next to her was a large stack of booklets. Evacuating a Weyr was a complicated process!

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, October 2000...**

Hermione and May entered the administration building nearly simultaneously. Both girls were well advanced in their studies by now and had been surprised that Harry had asked them to meet with him today. As far as either knew, there was no Weyr business that involved both of them at the moment.

"Have you any idea what this is about?" Hermione asked.

May shook her head. "No, but he's been planning something for over a month now. I mean with all the hoopla going on over Condron and Jared's condition, he was still busier and a bit more secretive than usual. I tried to talk to Janay about it, but she didn't have a clue either."

Hermione snorted in amusement. When Janay was first placed as Harry's office assistant she felt a bit jealous about it. Hermione had been trying to help Harry with his office, but she found she didn't have enough time in the day to manage her law studies, work with Margret Sheppard in the Weyr's legal office and still help Harry. Surprisingly it was Harry that came to her and told her that while he would always need her, it was all right for her to spend her time on more important matters than what got filed where. Janay, he explained, wanted to help run the office and had taken courses in school covering all the skills she needed.

Harry then gave her a smile that caused a thrill of desire to shoot through her and he leaned closer. "You are too important to me to be filing and typing," he said in a low tone. "Let Janay run the office and never fear your place in my life."

Hermione had since learned that she had even less to worry about. Janay had turned out to be having a serious relationship with a boy from Svartvatn weyr. She loved working for Harry and was on friendly terms with everyone, but she only had eyes for her Jholson.

Hermione pushed the door open and Janay looked up from her desk. "Oh good, now he'll stop asking me if you two are here yet. Go on in," she said with a broad smile. She didn't know what was up, but she knew something was going on.

May laughed and grabbed Hermione's hand then pulled her towards the entrance to Harry's office.

Harry looked from his desk and smiled widely at both women, then he waved them in. May and Hermione took several steps into the room and then skidded to a halt. Sitting on Harry's desk were two identical ring boxes, both bearing the Gringotts logo.

"Harry?" May said in a surprised whisper. Harry laughed and waved for them to enter and sit down. Cautiously both girls took the seats in front of Harry's desk. Both of them had their gazes glued on the ring cases.

The trio had discussed marriage, or at least the handfasting ceremony that the Irish Druids offered, but they hadn't come to any real commitment yet.

Harry glanced down at the ring boxes and then up at his girls. "Last week at the Weyrleader's meeting, I couldn't help but notice Karen wearing her engagement ring. Skip and Kat got married and then had a party that I doubt anyone will top. Lee and Mariah are married already also, in fact of the first riders only eight of us haven't settled down yet."

Harry played with the boxes for a moment and both women knew he was carefully considering his words. "I'm ready," he said finally, then he looked up at both of them. "I'm ready for us to be a real family with all that implies. That doesn't mean that I want you both to start having babies, no what I'm ready for now is learning how to be a good husband and hopefully a father in the future."

He leaned back in his chair and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I consider us a family already, but I want it to be official."

"Official? Official how?" asked Hermione.

He looked up at her. "If someone asks, I will not deny what we have. I will not hide ourselves like it's something to be ashamed of. You know I've had Margret checking into some laws for me. It turns out that it is illegal for a man to have two wives."

"We know that Harry," May replied unhappily.

Harry smiled at her. "Ah but legally that law only applies to a man and woman who has filed a proper registration. The Druid service isn't recognized and legally since we aren't filing any registration with the government, we aren't married in their eyes. Hence it's not illegal for us to use the handfasting service and call ourselves married. And if someone decided to object to what we have and dragged me into court, I would toss a monkey wrench into the whole affair by introducing the dragons into the mix. It also means that any child we have will be a Potter."

May blinked in surprise and looked over to Hermione. "You're studying law, that can't that be right? Can it?"

Hermione bit her lip and thought furiously for a moment. "The legal definition of marriage requires the formal declaration filed at the registration office. If there is no registration, then legally there is no marriage. Most polygamy charges stem from someone trying to cheat the government out of money either in avoiding taxes or other means. Since Harry isn't trying to cheat on his taxes there's no reason for charges to arise from that arena.

"Harry could call us wives and we call him husband and while the government might not think so, they also have no power to stop us from calling him that. Nor could they arrest him for polygamy since we're all consenting adults and there is no attempt to defraud the government," she said slowly. "Plus if Harry did manage to bring dragons before the bench the law would stutter and break down because there are no provisions for dragons yet. The PM's office has only begun looking at revising existing laws to account for dragons and their relationships with their riders."

"What happened to Chapman drove home the point that treating a rider apart from his dragon could have devastating consequences," Hermione concluded.

Harry's smile broadened even more then he gestured to the two ring boxes on his desk. "That's why I asked you here. I want to formalize what we have, and maybe even make some plans for our future."

"And so these are our engagement rings?" May asked with a small smile.

Harry blushed slightly and then he cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm afraid that when I picked up the rings and had them in my hands I realized I had a problem. Sirius told me that my father had a really romantic way of asking my mother to marry him. I wanted to do the same thing, but I had to come up with two different ways."

He sighed and shook his head. "For the past six months I've been wracking my head and couldn't come up with any especially romantic that was good enough for both of you. Frankly I'm tired of trying to think of something."

Both girls looked shocked to hear he had been holding onto the rings for six months without letting them know.

Harry opened one box on the desk and then he pushed it towards Hermione. He repeated the process with May's ring, then he stood and walked around the desk until he was standing between them, facing the open ring boxes on the desk. He placed a hand on both girl's shoulders and they tore their gaze from the rings to look at him. "I love you both so much I lack the ability to express it properly. I would be deeply honored and blessed if you would both consent to become my wives," he said softly.

Hermione's eyes glistened with tears and she looked over to May who was staring up at Harry in astonishment. She chuckled and leaned forward to pick up the ring box in front of her. "Harry it's been a fantasy of mine since you jumped on the troll's back, now you've made it a reality and given our situation I think you managed to find a suitable romantic way to propose."

Harry reached down and gently pulled the ring from Hermione's fingers; she offered him her hand. He slid the ring onto her hand and then he kissed her wrist lightly. She shivered and glanced over at May who still seemed stuck in her pose, staring at Harry in astonishment.

"May?" Hermione said softly, trying to suppress a snicker. The two had spoken frequently about this moment and both had been eagerly awaiting Harry's proposal. To see May paralyzed like this was striking her as very funny.

May blinked and opened her mouth. "Harry!" she squeaked, then she clamped her mouth shut and shook her head as her cheeks blushed a bright red.

Harry laughed in response and pulled the ring from her case. "Will you?" he asked her.

Not trusting herself to speak she nodded and thrust out her hand. He repeated his actions with May's ring and she bit back a moan. The glance she threw at Hermione was understood immediately, both of them were going to see to some private time with Harry today.

Harry straightened up and walked over to a couch where he sat down. Instantly he was bracketed on the couch by both girls. Once they were seated he brought up the other topic he wanted to talk to them about.

"There is one other matter I wanted to discuss. I know we've talked about this in the past, but I haven't done anything about it. Considering that we're now looking to get married I asked Eddie Took to accept me into her faith," he said softly.

"What about children? What will we do?" asked May worriedly.

Harry shook his head and wrapped his arm around the girl, pulling her closer to him. "We'll be smart about it. You and Hermione each attend a different church, if I joined one of yours, the one I didn't join would have felt pressured to switch even if no pressure was applied. So when it comes to children, we raise them to ask questions and make decisions for themselves. Let the children see and be a part in all three religions and when they are old enough, they can choose for themselves."

Hermione cuddled into Harry's side for minute, thinking about what he had said. It was true, she and May had differing beliefs and both had been hoping Harry would join their church. Harry however saw to the heart of the problem and picked an alternative that would cause the least friction. "I think that would work," she said quietly. "Besides, the situation may change someday."

The other problem Hermione had struck to the heart of her faith. Harry had brought up some important points the last time he had this discussion with the both of them. May and Hermione hadn't reached an agreement just yet, but both were starting to lean in favor of Harry's position. The simple fact was that neither faith would readily accept the relationship the girls had with Harry.

"It may," Harry offered. "I never was any good in divination, but I do know that things rarely remain unchanged."

May poked him in a rib and he jumped. "Oh you and your diplomatic training! Only you would think of a practical compromise."

Harry laughed and kissed her lightly. Both girls cuddled in closer.

_Some days its good to be me,_ Harry thought happily.

**Stuttgart Germany, December 2000...**

Carlos the Gerbil fished a key out of his pocket and he glanced around before using it to open the door.

The man behind him frowned deeply. "Muggle filth," he muttered in a heavy accent.

Carlos chuckled and tossed the man the key. He caught it and swore violently in German before dropping the key on the ground. He held his injured hand and glared at Carlos. The key glowed a dull red and hissed in the light covering of snow on the ground

"My friend, we're in a muggle neighborhood, but the key is charmed so that only I can open this door. Any unlocking spell would result in the caster dying from a lingering painful organ expelling curse," Carlos said, then he gestured to his companion's injured hand. "That burn will heal normally once it's treated."

Carlos bent down and scooped up the key and placed it in his pocket. "I know you disdain muggle methods my friend, but sometimes we must use them to avoid the muggles learning about us. Your group wants to disrupt the dragons, come, let me show you what I'm managed to acquire for you."

Carlos held open the door and gestured to Brent Mittergath to enter the room. He had known Mittergath for years and occasionally had jobs that his organization could do. Mittergath ran a small group of pureblood extremists that existed on the fringe of German wizarding society.

Pureblood extremism had been stamped out in Germany after the end of World War Two and the fall of Gellert Grindlewald. Those few groups that did exist had to hide very deep like the muggle Nazi revival movements. Neither the muggle nor the Magical governments had any tolerance for the bigotry those groups preached.

"Brent my friend, I know these methods are distasteful, but they have the added bonus of being untraceable to your Aurors," Carlos said. He then flipped on a light switch and the large room flooded with light. Inside the cavernous area were two large piles of muggle explosives, provided by Carlos' Russian contacts.

"Over the next two days I and some of my people will instruct your people how to use these devices. They are simplicity itself, but quite dangerous, even to wizards. You know what targets I need for you to strike at, mix those targets up with some of your own and no one will understand the connection between them," Carlos added.

Brent reached over to a pre-made bomb and he fingered the pull cord that would have armed it and set the timer running. Carlos gently reached around Brent and grabbed his wrist, holding him immobile. "Gently my friend, if you pull that cord too hard, you will blow up the entire district."

Brent released the cord as if it were boiling hot and he took back a step. "It is that dangerous?"

Carlos released his wrist and shrugged. "The muggles are very good at killing my friend. You would do you and your movement some good if you studied their methods. One can admire an enemy and still kill them."

"But they are muggles, we are the superior beings!" Brent protested.

Carlos shrugged again, then he gestured towards a table a good thirty feet from the deadly piles. "Come, let us have a drink and make some plans my friend. We have much to do."

Mittergath allowed Carlos to lead him over to the table where a bottle and two glasses sat. He knew Carlos from way back and there was something close to a mutual admiration between them. Both men knew the other's measure.

**Godric's Hallow Cemetery, December 5th 2000...**

"Another year," he said softly, then he knelt in the damp earth to clean the base of the tombstone and banish the leaves and dirt that had accumulated since his last visit.

He conjured some flowers which he laid at the base of the headstone, then he climbed to his feet and conjured a chair to sit on. A chill wind blew through the trees in the graveyard, but Harry didn't feel it. He was kept warm by his flight suit and the huge wind break that Chekiath provided without even trying.

"I know it's been a year since I last visited. I try to come more often but you won't believe how busy I've been," he said softly. "Eddie tells me that she thinks you're here, watching and listening. She honestly believes that, and she thinks that when the time is right you'll be reborn again. Druids are all about renewal, birth, life, death, it's all a great cycle and you know what? I find that rather comforting."

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Did you know she even said it was possible that you could be reborn as my own children? Wouldn't that be a kick?"

He leaned forward in his chair and smiled. "Don't tell Hermione and May this, but honestly, the idea that everyone hangs around until the final resurrection seems crazy to me. The world is overcrowded as it is. Where would we put billions and billions of people and still turn the world into a paradise?"

He leaned back in his chair and laughed softly. "Proposing to May and Hermione was the scariest thing I ever did," he admitted. "Maybe in a couple of years I'll be able to bring a grandchild or two when I visit."

Harry paused and looked around the graveyard. The graveyard around him was showing the typical signs of Autumn with leaves and other debris piling up. It was only around his parents graves that the area was clear of leaves. He frowned and quickly cast a few charms that gathered up all of the leaves into a large pile in one empty area of the graveyard.

The small family cemetery contained Potters going back to the tenth century. It was a connection to his family that he discovered well after he had impressed Chekiath. The Potters, unlike some families, weren't ashamed of the few squibs they had produced and included them in their burial plot.

Satisfied he leaned back in his chair and looked back at the headstone marking his parents grave. "I'm not a very good wizard. Everyone wanted me to take my NEWTS or work for wizarding Britain," he admitted. "A lot of people had expectations of me that I haven't lived up to; they don't see that I had more important responsibilities. I hope that doesn't disappoint you."

"I don't see how they could be anything but proud of you," said a voice from behind him.

He looked up to see May and Hermione standing nearby. Nearby Comaloth and Trath settled next to their mate and watched their humans with some amusement. Dragons had universally accepted the Druid vision of death after Spath had died, so they thought that cemeteries were a weird custom.

Hermione looked at him and shook her head in frustration. "Harry, you are the only one that doubts your abilities. Your parents might have been initially shocked when you decided not to be an integral part of the wizarding world, but your Mum would have understood and made your Dad understand that you are destined for something greater."

Harry conjured two more chairs for the girls to use, then he gestured for them to sit. "It's not easy for me Hermione," he replied.

"We know," May answered for her. "But we see you differently than you see yourself. We even see you differently than the other riders do. It is a shame that the others can't know you like we do. Most see The Weyrleader, but only Hermione and I see Harry for who he is."

Hermione nodded, then glanced around. "I always wondered where you had been disappearing to each year around this time. Usually you asked Chekiath to not say anything and then Remus pointed out that your Mum seemed to especially enjoy this time of the year, just before Christmas."

"I forgot to ask Cheki to keep quiet about where we were today. To be honest Disko is crawling with people and I wanted to get away to have a few hours of quiet," Harry said in reply.

Impression number twelve had occurred only seven days earlier and Disko island was crawling with people and dragons. The island had some eight hundred construction workers who were building a world class hotel and apartment blocks for visiting riders. The family guests had returned home the day after the impression feast, but that still left the riders that were there to help train the Weyrlings, the Weyrleaders and over one hundred people from the media who observed the impression and now were watching some of the initial Weyrling training.

Disko was becoming a madhouse and it was the primary reason why the Weyrs only left people behind to help the Weyrling masters instead of staying to help train the Weyrlings.

It was during this time that the Weyrleaders handled some of the more complex issues they faced, like requests to transfer between Weyrs.

May sat down and looked at him, "I can understand that, but it would have been nice to ask us to come along," she said. She glanced around taking in the graveyard. "Remus told us that you come here alone at least once a year since he showed you the place."

Harry dropped his eyes and refused to meet her gaze. "Yes, at Dumbledore's funeral. I'm sorry but I didn't think anyone but me wanted to come to visit a cemetery. Sirius visits maybe once a year and Remus too, but they don't go together and seemed they want to be alone when they come here."

"No one wants to visit a cemetery Harry," May said softly. "We would all wish that our family was alive, but a cemetery connect us to our roots in ways the living can't. Your closest relatives are here, my, our future in-laws are here. Someday they will be grandparents just like my parents or Hermione's parents."

"May is right," Hermione asserted. "You honor their memory by coming here and we can do no less. In a way I feel cheated that I will never have the privilege of meeting your parents. I know it pales in comparison to what you must feel Harry but there is still a feeling of loss."

Hermione gestured towards the headstone. "May I?" she asked.

Harry nodded in confusion, he wasn't sure what she intended, but he trusted that she'd do no harm.

Hermione turned slightly towards the headstone. "Mr and Mrs Potter, I'm Hermione Granger, one of Harry's ah... fiancées. I know it sounds strange, but we are his family. I always hoped that someday I would get to know my in-laws and love them as much as my own parents. I'm sorry that couldn't happen, but May and I love your son very much and he tries very hard to do his best for us. I wish we could have known you two, but I promise I'll do my best to make Harry happy."

"Me too," May echoed fervently. "I don't know if it's important to you or not, but I couldn't be prouder of Harry. He leads us and protects us, he's smart and kind and loving. I think Hermione would agree that what we have works because of Harry. Any other man would cause our relationship to fall apart."

Harry blushed and glanced over to Hermione who was nodding in agreement to May's words.

Suddenly all of their attention was diverted skyward, Norendrath popped out of Between and bugled in alarm. Harry sighed and stood. "What now?" he muttered. "I hope things are all right at Disko."

Norendrath circled and Sirius waved from his spot. Sirius couldn't claim to be a rider, but Norendrath puzzled everyone when he claimed Sirius as his rider. The pair lacked the telepathic bond, but there was a deep bond of friendship between them that most assumed was the reason why the dragon claimed him.

Sirius clambered down from his spot as soon as Norendrath landed near the other dragons, then he hurried over to where Harry now stood with May and Hermione.

"Harry, I'm sorry to interrupt your time here, but we have a problem," Sirius said tensely.

"Problem?" echoed May.

"Something wrong at Disko?" asked Harry worriedly.

Sirius shook his head and handed Harry a newspaper. The front page depicted a scene of absolute devastation.

"A late night explosion rocked a small town of Asemwald, south of Stuttgart Germany," Harry read without comprehension. He looked up at Sirius in confusion, then he read some more. He noted that traces of explosives had been found that proved they came from the lucrative black market for former soviet military hardware.

He glanced up at Sirius finally, waiting for some kind of explanation.

"Asemwald is where the first German dragon power plant is being built," Sirius explained. "Only one person, a night watchman, was killed, but millions of pounds of damage has been done to building equipment and the site. And the night watchman wasn't killed by any explosion."

"How was he killed then?" demanded Hermione.

Sirius shrugged. "The muggles don't know why he died. The German Magical Ministry snuck into the morgue with a forensic healer who determined he died from a killing curse. Also the site security cameras failed just moments before the explosion, which all points to wizards behind this attack."

"Wizards wouldn't care about a dragon power station. Even if they were trying to disrupt their ministry, blowing up a power plant wouldn't have much of an effect on them," Harry said slowly. He moved away from the others and put his hands in his pockets. One of his feet toed idly against the thinning grass. The others were silent, watching him as he thought it through. Finally he looked up at them. "Wizards would not care enough about a dragon power station to destroy it. They might have used explosives, but someone asked or paid for them to attack that target. The key question would be have any wizarding targets been attacked using muggle explosives? I think the odds are very good that someone paid them to do their dirty work and any other targets are just to sow confusion."

Sirius stared at Harry in astonishment and Harry glared back at him. "What? Four years of politics and diplomacy tutoring shouldn't shock you that I can think things through. If someone is deliberately targeting dragon power stations, and or their construction sites, then we need to figure out how to protect them. Those power stations are our key to making dragon-kind a crucial resource for humanity," Harry said with a touch of anger.

Sirius took a step backwards and held up a placating hand. "Easy Harry, I think you're right, I'm just surprised you came to the same conclusion as both the PM's office and the German magical ministry. And you had less information to work on."

"So what do we do about it?" asked May.

Harry shrugged. "We could post dragons at the construction sites like we used to post them at the schools. And we may still do that, but I think for now, the smartest move would be to ward the sites to prevent portkeys and apparations."

"Maybe they could be tied into some kind of alarm that would alert us to send in some riders to investigate or we could alert the authorities," suggested Hermione. Despite her attending muggle university, her second favorite hobby was tinkering with spell creation. Had she stayed in the wizarding world Harry knew she could have become one of the greatest spell creators of all time. Now it seemed she was destined for her own greatness in the legal arena.

Harry nodded absently, then his head turned to face his dragon. "Cheki, are the other Weyrleaders still at Disko?"

"All of them but Maziang Harry," Cheki replied. "Lobsang left early because his wife's father is ill."

Harry nodded, Lobsang had married the daughter of one of the village elders who then later impressed her own dragon. Lobsang had worked wonders with Maziang, bringing in trailer homes to replace the mud and wood huts the villagers once used, and now they boasted two of the largest portable power stations which provided power for the tiny community. Unfortunately the one thing they didn't have was access to modern medicine unless they flew it in.

Four of Maziang's riders were attending university in Japan with the intention of becoming doctors, but for now, they relied on magical healing which could do a lot, but not heal everything. Unfortunately in this case, Lobsang's father-in-law had an illness which resisted magical treatment.

"Very well, please inform all Weyrleaders and their seconds that we need to meet tonight at twenty hundred Disko time. I'll send an email to Lobsang after the meeting outlining what we discussed and what decisions we came to," Harry said.

There were two operational dragon powered power plants now in China and another six under construction. The Chinese quickly realized the value of such plants and we putting them up as fast as they could divert the materials and manpower from other projects. Harry would have to warn the Chinese that the construction sites and operational plants would need protection.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, January 3rd 2001...**

"This new president of the United States makes claims to being a militaristic hawk despite his lack of actual combat experience. Unlike his father, this president is untested and unproven in combat. I suggest caution in dealing with him. It had been months since his election and we still don't have a good idea of how he'll react, so for now I will say his actions will be unpredictable," concluded the Minister of Foreign affairs.

The men around the table listened intently to the Foreign minister. These men thought they were the true masters of Russia, among them were leaders in politics, banking, and government. The group had been assembled shortly after the final collapse of communism at the behest of Mishka Danakov. Individually each member was very wealthly, but their real power lay in the control they exercised over the Russian government. And Danakov controlled the President of the committee, who also held the title of Prime Minister of Russia.

"Excellent briefing Dimitri," said the President Putin. "Does anyone have anything they wish to add on this topic?"

"I ask that we increase our intelligence gathering staff in Washington and New York to find out more about this new leader," said the Minister of Foreign affairs.

Mishka Danakov nodded in agreement, his Federal Security Service had only gotten stronger and more effective thanks to his inclusion of a small group of highly trained wizards. Sending a few wizards to dig out information about the new American president would be easy, and best of all, no one would ever remember speaking to anyone about him.

"I will see to it," Danakov said softly.

"I have one other item I would like to bring up today," offered the Foreign Minister.

"Go ahead Dimitri," replied the President.

"As you know we have been talking with select nations who belong to OPEC about the threat the dragons pose to our economies. Iran and Iraq have openly said they would fire upon any dragon that enters their airspace. Saudi Arabia hasn't made any such public declaration but they are openly unfriendly to the Weyrs and have asked that no dragon overfly their territory. I am told they have started to collect intelligence on the closest Weyrs to them. Regretably there are no Weyrs that they can easily reach without help from another nation. Publicly they are opposed to any dragon involvement in thier affairs, locally or internationally. The Weyrleader has placed them on their prohibited list, like us."

Several of the men around the room chuckled at that. Russia didn't need dragon products and survived for centuries without them, so being placed on some list meant little to them.

Dimitri paused and took a deep breath. "I can't say for certain, but I am starting to believe that some among the Saudi government are in favor of a premptive strike against the Weyrs."

"That is madness," exclaimed the Energy minister, "they will bring down the wrath of the other western nations on them."

"No, they won't," replied the foreign minister calmly. "The Weyrs have claimed that they are above national politics. An attack on a Weyr is not an attack on the nation that it resides in. They are automonous territories. Still, an attack on a Weyr is something that would need to be handled most delicately. It would be perhaps best if we can draw the beasts into international air space rather than risk an escalating conflict with thier host nation."

The President of the council rapped his knuckles against the table to catch their attention. Once they were silent he turned to the Foreign Minister. "Dimitri, just what is it you are proposing?"

The Foreign Minister looked around the room. "At the moment nothing except to wait and watch. However, if our situation continues to worsen and we expect that it will, then perhaps an attack against the Weyrs by several nations would be prudent. After all, the Saudis lack the ability and reach that we have. They might be able to covertly hit one or two Weyrs that are rumored to be in North Africa, but that's it. If it came down to attacking the Weyrs, shouldn't Russia lead the way? We can reach many more Weyrs than the Saudis can, and we have many allies that would allow us to overfly their territories."

Danakov scowled heavily he knew an attack on the Weyrs would most likely embroil the wizards who still needed the products that only the Weyrs could provide.

"Mishka? You disagree?" asked the President.

"No, not entirely, but I do urge caution. This is a dangerous path and it should not be taken lightly. A slight misstep and we'd be involved in a world war," he replied. He wasn't against the idea, but he wanted more time to consider the risks and figure out if it was worth doing.

The president nodded. "Caution yes, I think we need to move slowly and carefully. I am uncertain we are able to mount an offensive wouldn't lead to a larger conflict," he said, then he turned to the defense minister.

The heavyset man swallowed and took a sip of his tea, the medals on his jacket clinked together as he moved. He looked around slowly, meeting the eye of all twenty members before continuing. "Comrades," he said, startling them by using one of the 'forbidden' words. He smiled slyly, "We all know the reason for our special committee. Returning Russia to the Soviet way has always been our goal and I for one will at least, here, use proper language."

He paused and took another sip. "So Comrades, our military is still very strong, but are we strong enough to take on NATO or the Americans? No, not today. Give me a few years to build up forces and get them trained and you'll be able to attack these dragons with inpunity."

"So," said the President. "Several years from now, assuming we can find the money to build up our strength. I suggest we warn our Saudi friends to be cautious and patient for now. They are not alone, but if they move precipitiously they will be on their own. If they want our help, they will have to wait while we prepare."

The Foreign minister nodded.

"Mishka, how fares your efforts?" asked the President.

"We have managed to cause delays at several construction sites. Rumor has it that the construction sites will soon be guarded by dragons. I have instructed our people to find other ways of slowing their construction. We have also infiltrated several trade unions and hope to add to the disruptions by causing tension among the workers."

Danakov paused and lit a cigarette before continuing. "Most of Europe still have communist parties that we have been able to influence at least to a small degree. Unfortunately when we changed ah... governments they came to view us as traitors to the revolution and no longer fully trust us."

"Yes, a daunting task indeed. Please keep at it Mishka," said the President, then he turned back to his agenda for this meeting.

Danakov nodded to the man who he was secretly controlling. No one on the committee knew it, but the Prime Minister of Russia was merely a puppet for the Russian Ministry of Magic.

**Campbeltown Weyr, Kitchen Hall, January 10th 2001...**

The hall was packed to overflowing! One long table held Harry and all of the Weyr council, plus a few special guests. Around the room members of the kitchen staff and the elves were running a steady stream of food and drinks out to those present.

The girls of the Weyr had taken to decorating the hall for this special occasion. It hadn't been easy but they had managed to locate many photographs of Sir Robert throughout his lifetime. Now those photos hung from one wall along with a hand drawn timeline spanning nearly fifty years of scientific accomplishments.

After the final course had been served, Harry stood. He glanced at the group of Weyr musicians who were setting up in one corner and figured they needed about ten more minutes.

Harry waved to catch the hall's attention and he nodded to Dobby who signaled the elves to make sure everyone had a full glass. The hall fell silent as the elves rushed around to refill thier glasses.

"This is a special moment," he said to the silent assembly. "I do not want to see Sir Robert leave us. He was key to getting the British government to accept us. Unfortunately time stands still for no man, and Sir Robert wants to spend his retirement working on his memoirs and relaxing."

Harry paused and glanced towards the elder scientist. "Sir Robert, I know that you have only spent a few brief years with us, but I am going to be biased and say that I think the years you spent at the Weyr were the most important."

Harry turned to Remus. "Remus, if you will?"

Remus grinned and stood up. He reached under the table and pulled out a large plaque that contained a bronze casting of a dragon in flight.

"Sir Robert in appreciation of all that you have done for us, the dragons decided that you should be enrolled in our lists as an honorary dragon rider. Your name will be entered in our roles and we want you to know that you can call on us anytime, anywhere. You are one of us."

Remus passed the large plaque to Sir Robert who was grinning widely. Then Remus handed him a small envelope. Curious, Sir Robert opened it and read the small note, then he looked at Harry in astonishment. "Really?" he exclaimed.

Harry stood back up and nodded to Sir Robert. "For those of you that do not know, we have just told Sir Robert that his youngest great grandson has been found on search and if he wants, he will be presented at impression after he turns fifteen in two years."

The hall broke out in cheers and Sir Robert looked down, moved by the unexpected response. James leaned closer to Sir Robert and said, "What did I tell you? They may not all understand you, but they all appreciate you."

Sir Robert used his napkin to wipe at his eyes. "I must have some dust in my eye," he muttered. He was pleased and surprised when he was told that the Weyr wanted to hold a dinner in his honor, but he never expected this kind of response.

Harry held up a hand and waited for the hall to quiet down again, then he raised his glass. "Sir Robert, we hate to see you go but we hope you have a long and peaceful retirement. And I won't mention the betting pool that has you taking up some kind of research within the first week," he said, then he glanced at Lee who was running the pool.

The hall broke up into laughter and Sir Robert smiled. "Actually dear boy there are a few things I wanted to look into now that I'll have some free time."

Harry chuckled and raised his glass. "To Sir Robert, rider, dragon friend and citizen of Campbeltown Weyr!"

Over five hundred people stood and raised their glass. "To Sir Robert!" Outside the hall a thousand dragons trumpetted in approval for the Master Smith.

Harry took a drink and glanced over at Sir Robert who was wiping at his eyes once again. He waited until the hall settled down once more. "As we say farewell and good flying to Sir Robert, we also welcome Sir Stanley Scott who will take over for Sir Robert. One of Sir Robert's last duties to his Weyr was to explain to Sir Stanley about magic which no doubt came as quite a shock."

Harry motioned for Doctor Scott to say something and the man slowly rose to his feet. He was a tall man with a medium build and grey hair at his temples. He was younger than Sir Robert by decades but his own scientific record was no less stellar.

"Thank you Weyrleader," he said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Filling in the shoes of Sir Robert March is by no means an easy task and I admit that when you first offered me the position I thought I wasn't qualified or capable of replacing Sir Robert. It was Sir Robert himself that convinced me that I could contribute to the Weyr and dragonkind. He made me see what unique opportunities exist thanks to the dragons."

He glanced over at Dobby who stood nearby watching Harry to see if he needed anything. "Sir Robert introduced me to Chekiath, and his good friend Dobby. Never in my life had I expected to interact with another intelligent species let alone two species, so you can imagine it was a very interesting first conversation."

Dobby turned a darker green with his blush. His conversation with the scientist was one he'd never forget. The man was nearly as curious about elves as Harry was.

"I can't say for certain that Sir Robert is right in his assessment that I can fill his shoes, but I will try my best to do right by the dragons and the Weyr. I hope that each of you will take time in the coming months to visit with me so that we can learn about each other. And to Sir Robert I'll add my own best wishes for a restful and happy retirement."

Sir Stanley sat to applause from the riders and Sir Robert leaned closer to him and shook his hand.

Harry leaned back in his chair and mentally checked off several items from his list. Sir Robert leaving the Weyr was a loss, but one that they could weather. Sir Stanley would be a chief scientist and Harry had promised him that the Weyr would help fund his personal research.

Unlike Sir Robert who had been on the government payroll all this time, Sir Stanley assumed the position of chief of Research for Dragon Services Ltd. It was just minor step in Harry's grand plan to wean the Weyr off government reliance.

The only real surprise was Narcissa Malfoy sliding neatly into the slot of execute assistant to Sir Stanley. In a way Narcissa had found the power and respect she had wanted, via a muggle scientist and the dragons. Narcissa had found her place and it wasn't one that Harry was going to deny her because it was a role that needed to be filled and one that she had earned.

* * *

**Author's notes and Mockeries:**

* Well we've reached that point in the chapter where we pull out the tazer and zap people. Unfortunately last chapter left people in two distinct camps. We heard from the people unhappy about Kirteth, and people wondering what Michel was up to. You guys didn't leave me with much material to mock I'm afraid, but I will anyway!

* Guest215, no, we will not equip the dragons with sidewinder missiles. Now go away.

* Lianis181 I too am puzzled by the people that seem compelled to spit back canon at people so you're not alone.

* Stargater69, thank you for that image. The idea of putting Carlos the Gerbil into a hampster ball was funny. Sadly we have other plans for Carlos and they don't include a people sized hampster ball.

* For those who asked, Chapman was not under any kind of spell. Since the ICW flexed its muscles and cause the fall of the Italian and Greek ministries, few countries want to openly risk encurring their wrath. Even Russia, as seen here in this chapter is reluctant to act by itself.

* And that brings us to another issue. Russia is one of the agressor nations in this tale. Suck it up and live with it because it's not about to change at this point. That isn't to say there won't be others, but they will be leading the parade. So do not complain to me that your country would never act out against another nation because I do believe there are a number of people in the Ukraine that might disagree with you.

And strangly enough, I picked Russia long before they started acting up. Maybe I should take over for Slyvia Brown?

* Joshua the Evil Guy left a HUGE review with a ton of questions and then he fell on his sword by admitting that he skips the disclaimers. At that point I felt it was okay to skip his questions. :) Sorry Josh. I will also add that Josh probably skips these author's notes because I have answered some of his questions already in previous author's notes.

* A few people questioned why Kirteth suicided. What some fail to understand is that the bond between rider and dragon is so intense, someone like Chapman, who was having a break of reality would have totally scrambled his dragon's thought processes as well. It was well known on Pern that very few riders survived the death of thier dragons, and something like a mating flight could cause totally irrational behavior on the part of the rider. That's canon and not something I pulled out of my hat.

* KB0 has a wonderful little cross over called Harry Potter: Telly Tubby... er, no, that's not right. Harry Potter: Avenger. Look him up in the search and give it a read. Tell him I sent ya over and that I said he needs to bring back Sirius if for no other reason than to annoy Fury. Sirius could be Agent Furry!

"Director Fury! Agent Furry is calling!"

Sorry, but sometimes I crack myself up.

* Finally I would like to warn people that Colonel Michel is not a big bad guy. He is a cog in a machine so don't obsess too much over him. The fact is we won't see him again. Michel is a symptom of a larger problem that hasn't been revealed yet.

* And finally, finally (For real!). Shadow315, please return to your car, you left the lights on!


	8. Chapter 8

**Standard Disclaimer:**

It was the noise that first tipped Bob off that something different was in the works. Alyx was running his air compressor again and that couldn't possibly be good. The last time she used the air compressor, she had fitted a neighborhood child's bicycle with a small air powered rocket.

They called off the search three days later when they failed to find the brat and the neighbors gave Alyx an award for ridding the neighborhood of a very annoying pest.

Needless to say, Bob wondered what kid Alyx was tormenting with the air compressor this time. Hitting the special Bob powered Save button_(TM)_ on his keyboard, he turned and walked onto the stage.

Skidding to a halt he stared in amazement. "What is that?"

Alyx looked up from the compressor and grinned madly. "I thought I would save us the trouble of creating a disclaimer so I ordered one cheap from a Taiwanese manufacturer."

Bob looked at her, then back up at the huge inflatable duck holding an inflatable sign. "You bought an inflatable disclaimer?" he exclaimed. Sometimes she did stuff that just amazed him. Other times she scared the pants off him!

"That's right! We got it cheap!" Alyx exclaimed happily. "No more fighting over disclaimers, no more struggling to think of something new, no more llama harming disclaimers. We're finally free!"

Bob stared at the three story high duck with the two story high sign. "'We no owen Hairy Pots ors Dragging writers of Perth?'" Bob said softly, then he looked at Alyx and smirked. "Please tell me that you asked for something different?"

Alyx stared up at the sign in confusion. "I thought for sure they said they had the very best translators that money could buy."

"This is what happens when you buy cheap," Bob quipped. "Remember Clell and his prostetic heart? He blew up! He bought cheap also!"

Alyx whimpered in dismay.

Bob chuckled and walked off the stage while Alyx fell to the floor and wept. She knew Bob wouldn't let this go, he'd remind her of this mistake, magnify it and tell all their friends over and over again for the next fifty years!

Bob sat down at his computer and paused for a moment. Suddenly there was a loud boom and he chuckled. "I knew if I pointed that sign out, she'd forget to turn off the compressor," he muttered. "Lets start the chapter while I send out a mass mailing about the dangers of inflatable ducks and Taiwanese sign makers."

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 8  
Points and Counter Points**

* * *

**Power Plant Construction Site, Bourges, France, January 20th 2001...**

Lukath perched on the crane tower and looked around idly. The humans that worked in this place were gone, off for the weekend and only a small handful of people remained. From his position high above the site he could easily see most of the site, plus the other four dragons that were aloft circling the site and watching for trouble.

Lukath was part of a contingent of dragons from Joensuu Weyr. They had set up a small camp in a clearing in a nearby wood with permission from the land owner and were providing security for the construction site.

Lukath was an unbonded dragon, formerly of Irtsyh River Weyr. He was proud to help his Weyr and dragons by doing his part in protecting this construction site. The dragons as a whole understood these buildings contained machines that were very important to the humans and to the dragons. The Weyrleader himself had explained to the dragons of the world that humans needed these machines to power other machines, and dragons provided the source of hot rocks which made everything work. Lukath didn't really care about that part, all he knew for sure was that The Weyrleader said this place was important to dragons and that made it his duty to protect it.

Like so many of the non-bonded dragons, they personally felt as if The Weyrleader had saved them. The bonded dragons were loyal to The Weyrleader and their Weyr, but they never experienced the time of the beasts, they never knew what it was like to be trapped inside one's mind, cognizant and unable to communicate or even control your actions.

Lukath's head swivelled to locate the source of four soft pops. In a split second he was airborne and diving on a man who was trying to place a small box near the base of one of the cranes. Lukath grabbed the man who screamed in fear, then Lukath popped between, confident that his wing mates would catch the other three men.

Ismo Sippola was walking across the temporary camp that he was using while some of his wings provided protection for the nearby construction site. He split his days between here and Joensuu Weyr, where he was Weyrleader.

"Adam!" he called, summoning his wing second over.

The tall red head turned and smiled to Ismo, then started to walk over to see what he wanted. Suddenly four dragons popped out of Between overhead, keening in distress. Both Ismo and Adam were shocked to see three of the dragons holding someone in their front paws.

Around the camp other dragons started keening in distress.

"Lakie!" shouted Ismo, turning to his dragon, Lakreth.

"_Lukath is no more,"_ replied the unhappy dragon. _"He picked up a man and took him Between. Something happened to them. __Lukath is gone.__"_

"Could he have picked up a man who was carrying a bomb?" asked Adam.

Ismo glanced over and grunted at him. The truth is they would probably never know the answer to that question. "Call the police, let them come deal with our captives. I'll send word to Harry of what happened here."

"_I am talking to Chekiath now Ismo,"_ Lakreth said. Ismo nodded and turned back to Adam.

Adam nodded, "On it," he said, then he turned away and reached for his mobile phone. Joensuu had one of the smallest populations of wizards among any manned Weyr with only six wizards and nine witches. With such a small magical population in the Weyr, the riders were more familiar with muggle technology like mobile phones. Even Campbeltown had issued phones to everyone, but the magical riders had to be more cautious with their magic or they would fry the portable phones.

Ismo turned and walked towards his dragon, issuing commands as he went. The air above the camp erupted with three more wings from Joensuu. He had emptied his Weyr of riders except for the two new wings from the November hatching and Joensuu's Weyrling master.

One wing landed, surrounding the three captured men who were being disarmed by some of his riders. Ismo glanced in their direction and frowned. "Strip them down to their underwear," he bellowed at his riders, not caring that it was below freezing. Common everyday items like buttons could be enchanted to help them escape or attack.

Suddenly Lakreth reared up on his hind legs and bellowed a welcome. Campbeltown had arrived!

It turned out that Lakreth had managed to warn Chekiath of the problem while Division one had been running an air combat drill. Harry had immediately ordered the division to jump to the construction site.

Division one filled the skies above the temporary camp. Ismo shook his head in awe, his dragon was enormous, a fully grown horntail at the upper range of the Emperor class, but compared to Chekiath and his consorts, he looked like a yearling.

Campbeltown dragons set new standards for every class of dragon. Even the smallest of dragons, the vipertooth were nearly ten feet longer than the standard. In fact every bonded dragon was significantly larger than what was considered normal for it's breed, but Campbeltown took that to an extreme.

Ismo watched with a touch of envy as the wings peeled apart with a precision that only comes from years of practise. Harry and Ronan landed near Lakreth and quickly dismounted.

Harry paused in front of Lakreth and bowed.

"Campbeltown mourns with you Lakreth and your Weyr," Harry said formally to Ismo's dragon. "Lukath will be missed. We will add his name to the Big Book as one who gave his all for dragonkind and his Weyr. I firmly believe he is happy and reunited with friends no longer with us."

The Big Book, was Remus' project, listing every dragon when they passed away. In most cases it was just a name and a date entry, but for a few special dragons, they earned a page unto themselves, with photographs, biography and an explanation why that particular dragon was so special.

Spath had several pages dedicated to him; and there was a page dedicated to Ranglieth who lost his life protecting the Queen at from the dementor attack.

Ismo knew his Weyr would be scrambling to provide Remus with enough information and photos. Fortunately they had photographed all of the dragons. It was common procedure to take pictures of every non-bonded dragon when a Weyr transitioned to a manned Weyr.

Lakreth ducked his head low, his yellow eyes slowly mixing with green streaks. Lakreth would be the first Joensuu dragon so honored in this way. _"Thank you Weyrleader,"_ he replied.

Satisfied, Harry turned to Ismo with a grim expression. "I'm sorry about your loss Ismo, but your Weyr is to be commended. Your very presense at the construction site probably averted a greater disaster."

Ismo shook Harry's hand and motioned for Harry to follow him into the heated trailor he was using as an office/quarters. "The authorities should be here shortly, why don't we wait for them inside where it's comfortable."

Harry glanced over towards the nearly naked shivering wizards and grinned. "Excellent, we might as well be comfortable. "Ronan, ask Hermione to call Sirius on Katherine's phone. Tell him we're going to be turning over wizards to the muggle authorities. Someone might want to alert the French Ministry of Magic."

Chekiath could have bespoken to Norendrath, but Katherine's father was ill and both she and Sirius had been spending a lot of time at the hospital, using a car to go between the two places. It was likely that Norendrath was still in Campbeltown while the other two were not. Katherine was his link to the British government in times like these when Lord Mills was unavailable. Lord Mills rarely spent the night in the Weyr unlike Katherine who lived at the Weyr with Sirius.

"I'll take care of it Harry," Ronan said, then he turned and walked over to talk to his counterpart.

Harry smiled and followed Ismo into his trailer.

Adam stared at the dragons from Joensuu in confusion, then he noted Ronan standing nearby. "I know, normally the dragons would mourn for a lot longer, but Harry seems to know exactly what to say to shake them from their mood," Ronan offered.

Adam shook his head. "Is very unset... unsettling?"

Ronan smiled and clapped his hand on Adam's shoulder. Adam was nearly Ronan's age and also studying aeronautical engineering. The two were well acquainted with each other. "It is, and I have to say your English is greatly improving Adam."

Adam nodded seriously. "I know, but I would rather calculate lift ratios, at least Murath makes learning English easier."

Ronan grunted in acknowledgment. He had learned a smattering of Japanese so he could talk to another rider in the Weyr's informal design group. Ronan's design group was large enough to hide some of their projects by designing devices to solve real Weyr problems.

The design group didn't exist on paper anywhere yet. Harry and Ronan had plans to officially put together a design and manufacturering group at Campbeltown once Ronan and some others had finished school. But for now they were a Weyr secret.

"What will happen to them?" Adam asked quietly, he then jerked his chin towards the three captives shivering in the winter air.

Ronan scuffed a foot in the light dusting of snow on the ground. "That will be up to the authorities. You know we really can't get involved in that aspect, but if I had to guess, Harry is going to try to push for a murder charge because of Laketh."

So far few countries had come out and officially said a dragon was equal to a human.

**#10 Downing Street, London, January 23****rd**** 2001...**

"So what have we learned?" asked Prime Minister Blair.

Lord James Mills sat off to one side, watching and taking the occasional note. Alfred Winniston, the new head of MI6 was discussing the recent attempt to sabotage a French construction site.

"Surprisingly very little, even with the abilities of magical interrogation," replied Winniston unhappily. "The three men in question were multi-national, one German, one French and one Italian. We did learn that the fourth man was also French, and a background check showed all four to be members of a small pureblood society called the 'Knights of Walpurgis'. It's an old group that was thought to be largely defunct after the end of World War Two."

Winniston looked up from his notes. "We believe that the missing man might have had a faulty detonator on his explosive device. While the explosives themselves were top quality Semtex, the detonators were cheaply made and according to our tech people highly unreliable. It's only a guess, but we think the bomb went off just after the dragon picked up the man and went Between."

"Great, there's no way to prove that," muttered James.

Blair shot him a quelling look, then he turned back to Winniston.

"I'm afraid Lord Mills is quite correct with his statement. The man and his bomb might have been responsible for the dragon's death, but there's no conclusive proof sir. I know the Weyrleader was hoping to make this a test case for dragon rights, but I'm afraid if he tries he'll only fail. No body, no witnesses to any explosion, no proof that anything happened at all; and it's common knowledge that sometimes a dragon goes Between and never emerges from it."

"Old dragons or dragons that are seriously ill, but Lukath was neither," James responded unhappily. He had dealt with enough legal issues, both for the Weyr and personally that he understood what was being said even if he didn't like it.

Blair turned back to James. "Lord Mills?"

"Sir?"

Tony Blair smiled slightly. The man wasn't part of his party and he had seriously considered replacing him when he took office, but the man was totally apolitical when it came to the Weyrs; and more importantly, had earned the trust of the Weyr and the Weyrleader.

"If you would, please convey the following to the Weyrleader. Her Majesty's government mourns with Campbeltown and Joensuu for the regrettable loss of a dragon. But we feel that this is not the case to use to press for dragon rights. Please explain to The Weyrleader that there are enough uncertainties present that trying to push for dragon rights on the basis of this case alone would only confuse and muddy the issue and may even set back his efforts.

"Her Majesty and this government are committed to extending equal rights to all sentient beings within our borders and I have prepared legislation addressing that effect. Unfortunately we do need to wait for more favorable conditions politically."

Mills nodded slowly, some of the members of his own party had openly formed a group that was dead set against giving dragons citizenship status. They were not a large group and did not represent a large percentage of the population, but they were well funded and had a smooth political machine that knew how to lobby for their cause.

According to the latest polls, the vast bulk of the British subjects were for granting dragons equal status. On the other hand a modest number of businesses that stood to be hurt by the dragons were funding a small group of members of Parliament to slow and obstruct any movement towards granting dragons equal status under the law. Former Prime Minister Major had managed a coup by converting British Petroleum to the dragon's side, but that still left dozens of smaller companies that were threatened by the dragons and the services they could provide.

"I will explain the situation to Harry. He'll understand sir," Mills replied after examining Blair for any sense of deception and finding none.

"Excellent," replied Blair, then he turned back to Winniston. "Anything else?"

"Yes actually, we're not sure exactly what it means, but it seems that there was a meeting two weeks ago involving the Deputy Minister of Energy for Russia, the Saudi Oil Production Minister and the Venezuelan Interior Minister. Several of my people believe it is related to the dragons. Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have openly expressed their unhappiness about dragons and what they will do to their economy. Venezuela is a surprise and right now it is thought that perhaps Russia and Saudi Arabia might be courting Venezuela in the hopes that they might come around to their way of thinking.

Winniston glanced down at his papers for a moment with a slight frown. "My boys in the Economics section are unable to put a conscise figure on the impact the dragons have had on Russia and the Saudis. I have estimates that range from three percent all the way to eleven percent. Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have lowered the price of their exports to compensate. What I do know for a fact is that China has been aggressively tackling their oil dependency issue by building six dragon powered power plants simultaneously; and once those six are done, the same crews will be moved to new locations to start building new plants. An informal question posed by our Ambassador to Bejing revealed that China hoped to be fully dragon powered country wide in twenty years."

"That's a lot of power plants," muttered Blair.

"It is indeed sir, but China is heavily reliant on imported oil. Currently they account for five percent of the Saudis' total oil sales, and nearly twelve percent of Iran's oil sales."

James looked up at that. "Iran? Is there any indication that they have met with the Saudis or Russians?" he asked. Iran was a major wild card in international politics.

"We haven't seen any signs of such as yet, but we are closely monitoring the situation," replied Winniston.

Blair looked over at James with a questioning look.

James shrugged. "Iran boycotted the United Nations address that Harry gave and they are one of the few countries to openly declare an intent to shoot down any dragon found in their airspace."

Blair nodded. "Yes I had forgotten about that," he muttered, then he turned to Winniston and arched an eyebrow.

"We are closely monitoring the situation sir, but as you know we have few assets inside Iran and even fewer inside Iraq. We've asked the Yanks to talk to their South Korean counterparts to see if North Korea might be involved, but the DPRK is not a member of OPEC, nor do they have any oil or gas to sell. They also declared they would shoot down any dragons they find in their airspace."

"So we have a lot of maybes and possibilities and no hard details," Blair summed up.

Winniston nodded slowly, "Yes sir, that is correct; plus we have other issues which we need to keep an eye on as well."

Winniston's eyes shot towards Mills and Blair understood, there were things Lord Mills was not cleared for and Winniston's concerns were on that list.

"Very good brief Sir Alfred, I'll call your office to reschedule your normal weekly briefing," Blair said.

Winniston smiled briefly, he was grateful that the PM caught his signal, he could resume his briefing when Lord Mills was no longer present. "Very good sir," he replied, then he started putting his briefing notes back into his briefcase.

"Lord Mills, are there any other Weyr related issues which need to be addressed at this time?"

James glanced down at his notes. "I don't believe so sir, the Weyr is constantly changing and I doubt you'll want to know every single detail."

Blair perked up at that. "Oh, is there something specific?"

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "There is a bit of work going on at the Weyr that no one has spoken to me about. When the Weyr was formed a small building, little larger than a large lorry was built to house a model airplane club. Last week that building was torn down construction started on a much larger building. Honestly I can't imagine the fifty person model airplane club needing so much space. I asked and was told that its exact purpose hadn't been decided, although there was some speculation of a new recreational hall, but the Weyr already has a recreational hall."

Winniston looked up from stuffing papers into his case. "Maybe they want to build something new before they convert the old facility into something else? You are always going on about their building shortages. In fact last year they built a school that is larger than the typical regional middle school. Something about building it large so they could grow into it."

"Yes sir, I did think of that. I guess I'm curious because no one is talking about it. The Weyrleader has been surprisingly open with us. In fact there have been only a handful of Weyr leadership meetings where I wasn't present."

"Perhaps its nothing my Lord, but nonetheless do keep an eye on it for us?" asked Blair.

"Yes sir, I will," replied James.

James recognized that he had been dismissed and he quickly stood, grabbing his coat and umbrella.

"I'll walk you out Lord Mills, if you don't mind," offered Winniston.

James smiled, "Not at all Sir Alfred."

**Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, February 20th, 2001...**

Harry poured the coffee while May busily sliced up a coffee cake that she had bought from a bakery near her school. The bakery quickly became very popular among the riders and it wasn't unusual for someone to phone in an order and have it delivered to a nearby park where a rider and dragon were waiting for it.

The owner of the shop proudly displayed a sign in his window proclaiming his bakery to be dragon approved.

"Lord Mills is getting curious," Karen said, opening the conversation.

"So am I," muttered Hermione.

Harry turned to look at her and blinked in shock. "I haven't told you what's going on?"

"Harry," May said with an exaggerated sigh. "You did declare it a Weyr secret. Hermione and I figured you'd let us in on it sooner or later."

Harry chuckled and leaned back in his chair, he looked over at Ronan who was watching the byplay between the Weyrleader and his wives in amusement. "Ronan it's your baby how about you explain it?"

Ronan placed his coffee cup on the table and looked at May and Hermione. "Shortly after we went public, we received a proposal from NASA looking to run some experiments on dragons. We allowed the experiments for about a year before they came back and wanted to do a more detailed study that included a rider."

Hermione frowned. "NASA, that's the American space agency."

May looked at Ronan in horror, "They wouldn't!" she exclaimed.

Ronan nodded. "They wanted to see if it were possible to use a dragon to go to orbit. Needless to say Harry denied the proposal as they outlined it. Basically they were thinking about just putting a rider into a space suit. We know the dragons can survive the pressures and cold of space for short durations, but like Harry pointed out to them, a rider is a lot more fragile. Distance isn't an issue for the dragons, if you were to take the distance from here to London and travel that same amount straight up, you'd be in space."

"So what does this have to do with that new building going up where the clubhouse used to be?" queried Hermione.

"Ronan has convinced me that we need room to be able to build things. He's putting together a team of riders, some are studying to be engineers, others don't want to go to university, but are willing to learn how to use the complex machines that society uses to build other machines," Harry said with a grin. "We'll be sending a lot more people to trade schools in the coming years."

Ronan matched Harry's grin. "There are a lot of things that don't exist that we can use, that means we'll need people to make the prototypes and engineers to do the designs. And if some of them happen to be studying aeronautical engineering and physics, then we'll be well placed if we want to explore the idea of sending a rider into outer space."

Ronan pointed to Harry. "Harry's objection with NASA's proposal was that no one strapped a human to the outside of a rocket and sent him into space. Space is dangerous and NASA's idea was dangerous. If I were to make that sort of attempt I'd want more than a space suit."

Harry nodded. "It's not like we're actually planning this, but Ronan's put together a small team that is tasked with addressing Weyr specific issues. What they do in their spare time is their business," Harry said, waving his hand airily.

"Their business cost us nearly two hundred thousand pounds last month," Karen said drily.

"And it was worth it. That computerized milling machine goes for a cool million pounds brand new. We bought an older model, used, factory certified and under a service contract; and we got it at a discount because we were capable of moving it ourselves," Ronan countered.

"Whatever are you going to use that for anyway? I saw it when it arrived, it took four dragons to move each piece," asked May.

Ronan's grin broadened. "Well my Weyrleader is unhappy that his Weyrhealer still has problems setting bones. So my team are working on two designs, one to allow you to set a leg bone without requiring magic, or Hagrid's strength. The other item is a version of your wing braces, only it will be collapsible and easier to set up than what you and your Dad put together. Our design will be adjustable so it will fit every size wing and lighter than what you used."

May turned to look at Harry who shrugged back at her. "I knew you needed stuff like that, and Ronan needed to justify his expenditures. If you have ideas for more hardware needed, put a list together for Ronan to work on."

"So Ronan and his group are going to be making things we need and explore the possibilities of going into space?" asked Hermione.

"The space thing is a secondary, but very real goal Hermione," Ronan replied. "So far we've been thinking that the rider should be in some kind of capsule. Dragons can't hold their breath forever, so the capsule needs to be able to supply the dragon with air. Right now we have a list of over 100 hundred functions that a capsule needs to be capable of doing to keep a rider and dragon alive in space. That's all, just a list. If this project does reach the stage where people are working on it, it'll still take years to put together."

May leaned forward on her chair and poured a little more coffee into her cup, refreshing it. "What I don't understand is why? Why make it a Weyr secret? Why do this at all? Space travel is very dangerous, we could lose people like the Yanks and the Russians who have lost people."

Harry glanced around at the others and he could see they were waiting for his reply. "Society changes," he replied, then he frowned. "No, that is a bad way of saying it. Society evolves. Right now dragon power is slowly nudging fossil fuels off the world stage. It'll take years, but it will happen. Coal and oil powered our world for nearly two hundred years and no one could have predicted dragon power.

"In order for dragons to survive as a partner species to man, an equal partner, we have to evolve as well. We got lucky with the hot rocks, but sometime in the future there will come a day when a new technology will be invented that replaces dragon power. It's inevitable. If we sit idly by waiting for that day to happen, and it will happen, we will be caught out, unprepared. Rendered obsolete. Humanity has a terrible habit of discarding what they don't need."

Harry paused and sipped from his drink while the others waited for him to continue.

"When the old East India Trading Company started to decline, they simply cut loose thousands of local natives who they employed on the plantations or on the loading docks. Overnight in some countries they nearly doubled the number of unemployed. Some of those countries fell into anarchy and war because of all the unemployed people. I do not want to see that happen to us.

"To my mind, in order to ensure that our dragons remain partners with humanity, we must make sure we are at the forefront of research, we need to lead the way by supplying society with the tools to move forward. That's why Dragon Services Limited was created, and that's why Ronan is setting up his design group, to take what we learn and apply it to the Weyr and society's problems.

"As to why it's a secret, the answer to that is simple. I don't want our host government to start expecting us to provide solutions to all of their problems. When Ronan succeeds we'll be able to show a new capability to the world, but until then, it's just our business. I want humanity to rely on us, but not expect us to solve all their problems."

May looked at Harry hungrily and Hermione started to chuckle. "Just when I think I know my man, he still manages to surprise me. Harry, I am impressed."

"I'll say," May muttered. "Here I thought he'd say something like space is cool. Instead we get a history lecture wrapped around his plans for our future."

Harry chuckled softly and glanced over to see Ronan grinning broadly.

"What?" Ronan exclaimed. "_Space is cool._"

"Speaking of cool, did you see what the elves did to Lee and Mariah's place?" asked May. "They added another room right off their bedroom as a nursery."

Mariah, Lee Jordan's wife was pregnant and all of the first riders were excited about it. She was due any day and while she was taking it calmly, Lee was heading for a nervous breakdown.

"Oh I saw that," Karen replied. "From the outside it looked like someone added a walk in closet, but it's almost as big as their bedroom."

Harry nodded. "Yeah that reminds me," he said, then he reached for his book and made a quick notation. When he was done he looked up to see everyone staring at him. "What?"

"Harry," Hermione said with a touch of exasperation, "what could you have possibly needed to add to your book now?"

He glanced down at his book and shrugged a bit sheepishly. "I needed to remind myself to speak to Lee about that new room. He needs to either hide it from view or put a charm on it to make it appear bigger. The problem is right now anyone seeing it from the inside and outside is going to suspect something weird is going on. Its better that he hears it from me than getting fined by the Ministry of Magic for violating the secrecy law."

Hermione leaned back and nodded. Lee's house was in violation of the law and despite the ICW's publicly acknowledged plan to go public, no one is allowed to jump the gun.

"I swear I'm going to find a place to hide that book that you can't find it," May said. She was tired of it following him everywhere.

Hermione shook her head and turned to her friend. "May, you've hid that book several times now and he's always found it. That says to me that he has some kind of tracking charm on it."

Ronan laughed, "Take away Harry's book and he'll grind to a halt."

"_No he won't,"_ Cheki said from his bed. He had been watching the humans talk all evening. Trath and Comaloth were watching a nature show on Meerkats, which didn't interest Cheki.

Harry laughed and glanced over at his dragon. "You're going to reveal my secret?"

"_Is it a Weyr secret?"_

Harry's expression fell, "No, not really," he replied to the chuckles of everyone present.

"Well Cheki? What's his secret?" pressed May.

"_Harry has retyped everything from his book, even the old items into his computer. Now days he often carries the book around because it's become a bit of a game to see what lengths you'll go to May, to hide the book,"_ Chekiath replied.

Chekiath extended his long neck into the living room and he looked at May, his eyes whirling with bright streaks of green. _"Sometimes he uses his book as a way of forcing you to relax. He knows how hard you've been working at school and after you've hidden his book you always go do something that relaxes you, like tak__ing__ a bath instead of studying."_

May turned on her seat and stared at Harry who shrugged. "Both you and Hermione are very focused people. My job is to make sure you don't burn yourselves out."

"I thought that was our job," exclaimed Hermione.

"It's both," Karen said softly, then she looked down at her hands. "When Harry forced me to step away from the three subdivisions of Dragon Services, he pulled both Ronan and I into his office and chewed us both out."

"Whatever for?" exclaimed May.

Ronan looked embarrassed, but he picked up Karen's hand in his and then continued her tale. "I had gotten so busy with Division two and with our little think tank. I knew Karen was working too hard, but I was afraid to tell her to stop, so I took the chicken way out and asked Harry to speak to her."

Harry leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. "It wasn't the chicken way Ronan, but it did highlight the fact that you two still had issues talking to each other. We three," he said, pointing to himself, May and Hermione. "have been forced to learn how to talk to each other from the very beginning. It was the only way to figure out how to make our relationship work. I will be the first one to admit I'm not very good at saying what I'm feeling, but I try. I wouldn't have gotten involved at all, but your personal problems were affecting your duties."

He turned to look at his girls. "I didn't chew them out because Ronan asked me to speak to Karen, I chewed them out because Ronan shouldn't have been reluctant to say something to her himself. And Karen, as smart as she is, couldn't see what she was doing to herself, and by proxy to Ronan. I do not like prying into the private lives of my riders, but in this case their private lives were affecting their jobs."

"My job, is to take care of you two, to make sure your happy and healthy. I believe thats one of the primary roles we all assume when entering a relationship," he said quietly to Hermione and May.

The group fell silent considering his words while Chekiath watched contentedly from his bed. Next to him, Trath and Comaloth had turned away from that nature show about Africa and were debating how many meerkats it would take to make a dragon meal.

**Weyrleader's Office, Condron Weyr, February 24th 2001...**

Skip frowned when the phone rang, then he sighed and placed his flight jacket back on the hook. He had been hoping to get a few hours flying time in with Menth, his dragon.

He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Skip, it's Kat."

"Hi sweetie," he said with a smile, "how's things in Washington?"

"I met with Larry Newman this morning Skip, he told me that the Government has filed a motion to have the suit moved to a State Department secret court. That's really going to complicate things. He is drafting a rebuttal to the motion, but he's not very hopeful. The new administration is playing up the National Security aspect of the case for all it's worth."

"Damn," Skip swore softly, "Okay I'll fire off an email to Harry about this, but he isn't going to be happy over it."

"Is that all you're going to do?" she asked.

He frowned. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"I think we should go ahead and ask NASA and the military scientists to leave the Weyr like we discussed," she replied.

Skip glanced out his window, in the distance he could see the laboratories where most of the research was carried out. NASA and the military were involved in non-lethal, non-combat research plus there were another forty scientists from various private companies. They were present doing research for their company. Kicking NASA and the military folk out would cut the research staff by more than four fifths.

"Skip?"

"Still here babe, just thinking about it. I'm not sure we want to go that far yet and I really want Harry's input. If the shit hits the fan here, we're going to need his help you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she said slowly, "dammit you're right. Contact Harry and see when we can meet. I'll be home tomorrow."

Skip nodded slowly. "Kat?"

"Yes?"

"I miss you, it's not the same here without you," he admitted softly.

There was a pause on the phone for a minute and in his mind he could picture her being surprised. It wasn't often that he admitted to her just how much he needed her.

"I miss you too Skip," she said, "I'll try to hurry, but the best I'll be able to do is leave in the morning. If you're still sleeping, I may have to jump on you to wake you up."

Skip smiled. "Then I'll make sure I go to bed later than usual so I can sleep late."

They both laughed and broke the connection. Skip glanced at his flight jacket and sighed before returning to his desk and opening his email program. _How does Harry manage this? I feel like I'm married to this desk,_ he thought to himself.

**Campbeltown Weyr, March 1st 2001...**

Buth bashed her head against the door and it splintered into a million pieces, then she bellowed her alarm in the confines of the bedroom.

Lee bounced out of the bed and hit his head against the night table on his way to the floor. Dazed he struggled to shake off the sleep and the dizziness. "Wha?" he mumbled.

He looked around, the bed was empty and Buth was blocking the door, her eyes spinning with a bright yellow light that lit up the room. The door to the bathroom was open and Mariah was standing in the doorway looking totally disgusted. Her nightgown was soaked below her waist. "Lee, you better call Issac we're going to have a baby."

Lee blinked stupidly at her. He knew they were going to have a baby, so why was she telling him this now? He'd known for months!

Mariah looked at Lee still sitting on the floor staring at her and she shook her head. "Lee. Baby, now!"

"Now?"

Mariah cringed as a contraction started. "Now," she replied through gritted teeth.

Lee shook and reached for the phone while Mariah turned to look at Buth. She stared at the splinters that had been her bedroom door. "Buth?"

"_You're in pain,"_ announced the dragon. _"__Something isn't right. __Laying eggs isn't supposed to hurt."_

"I'm not a dragon," Mariah replied, then she made a shooing motion with her hand. "You need to make room so Issac can get in."

"_I will,"_ Buth replied, then her head pulled out of the doorway. There was a sound of a loud crash and a blast of cold air rushed into the room.

Meanwhile Lee had dialed Issac's house and was waiting patiently for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" a voice said groggily.

"BABY!" Lee shouted into the phone, then he hung up and looked very pleased with himself.

Mariah sighed and shook her head. "Lee you idiot, do it again and don't scream this time."

Lee looked at her with a perplexed expression, why couldn't she understand he had passed along the message? He reached for the phone and dialed the number again.

"Hello?" said the same voice, only this time it was more awake.

"Baby," Lee said in a calmer tone.

"Lee?" asked Issac.

"Baby," Lee said in agreement.

"Is it time then Lee?"

"Baby," replied Lee. _Why wasn't this clear to people?_ He wondered.

There was a pause and a moment of silence, then Issac said, "I'm on my way."

Lee placed the phone back on it's cradle, then he turned back to Mariah. "Baby!"

Mariah rolled her eyes at him. "Is Issac on his way?"

Lee nodded, then he frowned. "Why is it suddenly cold in here?"

Mariah gripped the door frame and tried to pant through a contraction. "I suspect it's because my dragon just opened the front door," she gasped.

Lee stood on unsteady feet and walked over to her, he wanted to get her into one of the chairs but she wouldn't budge from the doorway. "Leave me be," she snarled at him when he tried tugging on her.

Buth suddenly reappeared in the doorway. _"What are you doing to my rider?"_ The dragon roared and smoke wafted up to the ceiling from her nostrils.

Lee fell on his butt and scuttled back away from the angry dragon in a crab like motion. Mariah shouted at her dragon, "Buth, stop! He's only trying to help me!"

"_You're in pain,"_ Buth hissed angrily, then she turned to glare at Lee. _"You did this."_

Lee sat on the floor with his back against the wall and he looked up at Mariah. He wanted to help her, he needed to help her, but for the first time since he met the dragons he was afraid of one. From outside the house a louder roar signaled the arrival of Chekiath and Buth flinched back, hitting her head against the door frame and shattering it further. A large crack appeared in the ceiling. The sound of the dragon door opening meant that Chekiath wasn't alone. Harry was using his master key to open the door.

Ever since the attack on Harry by Gordon Chapman, all of the dragon doors had been refitted to open using a key, only Harry, Issac and Major Atkins had master keys for all of the doors in the Weyr.

Outside the room Chekiath bellowed again and stomped his front feet down hard. The crack in the ceiling widened and pieces of plaster fell to the floor. Buth whined and cringed down upon herself.

Buth withdrew from the door again and Issac Sheppard appeared in the doorway. He was panting slightly and he wore an open coat that revealed he had taken only enough time to put on pants. He wore a pajama top that declared him a number one dad. He stopped in the doorway and took a deep breath before entering and going over to Mariah.

Lee sat on the floor watching and worrying. "Lee, go get some blankets," Issac ordered after a quick glance at Lee. He had seen this kind of husband before. He'd be fine once he got over his initial shock but right now he was still useless.

Grateful for something to do Lee dashed from the room wearing little more than his boxers and one slipper. Lisa Turpin entered next with a large medical kit.

Issac nodded gratefully at her. "I don't think we'll need the kit for this Lisa, has the ambulance I called for arrived yet?"

"I heard one of the security people say it was at the front gate."

The ambulance actually belonged to the military base next door which is why it arrived so quickly. Cars were universally disliked by the dragons and not a single rider had one at the Weyr. The Weyr did own a few cars which it kept in places like London to allow a rider on business to get about, but at the Weyr there were several mini-buses and lorries, but no cars.

He nodded and turned back to Mariah. "Do you think you can walk to the ambulance?"

She nodded and Lisa hastily looked through a nearby closet until she found Mariah's flight jacket which she wrapped around her then she pulled out her wand and cast a quick drying charm on Mariah.

Mariah smiled weakly and nodded to Lisa in thanks, then she picked up a bag she had pre-packed nearly two weeks ago.

The three walked from the house towards the waiting ambulance. Nearby Chekiath, Comaloth and Trath were making sure Buth remained calm. Mariah was the first rider to have a baby and everyone was learning just what was involved when a rider was about to give birth.

Considering the damage done to Lee and Mariah's house by Buth, having children would require careful planning.

Issac helped Mariah into the ambulance and Lisa looked around in confusion. "Where's Lee?"

"Oh damn, I sent him to get some blankets, it's almost as good as sending a father out to boil water," Issac replied with a chuckle.

Lisa laughed and climbed into the ambulance with the doctor and his patient. She was studying medicine and hoped someday to couple that with healer training in the near future.

"I'll have Zinth contact Harry and he'll track Lee down," Lisa offered with a chuckle, "once they calm him down they'll probably have someone pop him over to the hospital."

Issac nodded and then he waved to the driver who pulled the ambulance away from the curb. By the time someone tracked down Lee, he had raided the Weyr warehouse and was struggling with more than forty blankets and shivering from the cold.

**Condron Weyr, Weyrleader's office, March 3rd 2001...**

Chekiath appeared overhead to the sound of dragons below bellowing in welcome. Harry smiled thinly and leaned to his left causing Cheki to bank to the right and spiral downward.

"_I like Condron, it's always warm here,"_ Chekiath observed.

"You would like it but their summers are brutal on people," Harry replied with a laugh. "I'd melt into the ground."

"_Would you really melt? Lac Logipi was hotter __than this__ and you didn't melt __there__,"_ Chekiath observed.

Harry groaned, no matter how many times he reminded himself, his dragon always questioned his turn of phrase.

"It's just a saying Cheki. Look, there's Jasper and Skip, land near them," he replied.

"_I didn't think you'd really melt,"_ Chekiath said smugly as if he knew that humans can't melt. His wings snapped to their full extension and he flared out to land neatly some fifty feet from Skip and Jasper.

Harry deftly slid from his spot and dropped lightly to the ground.

"Harry! Welcome back!" exclaimed Skip, holding out his hand. Harry blinked in surprise, then he realized that most of the Weyrleader meetings had been at Campbeltown. _Perhaps it was time to change that,_ he mused.

In short order Harry found himself in Skip's office with his wife Kat and Jasper Brady. Skip explained the business about the suit being moved to a more difficult court system. After listening intently he turned to Jasper and asked what he thought about the move.

Jasper looked uncomfortable. "Harry, what you need to realize is that the mood of the American people has radically shifted in the last few months. Right now jobs and security are their priorities. The new administration came in on a promise of making America a super power again and in doing so, convinced a large number of people that we needed to beef up our armed services.

"The unit that Michel was working for snuck in an experiment that wasn't approved by the Weyr. This Michel, for all intents and purposes doesn't exist and that unit has probably gone onto other projects now that there is funding for real weapons research. I can't say for sure, but I believe they have moved on and will leave the dragons alone."

Harry leaned forward on his chair intrigued by Brady's comment. "Why? Why would they leave the dragons alone?"

Jasper shrugged. "Well to be frank, everyone seems to think the device used was something to learn about Between right?"

He glanced around and saw everyone nodding at his comment. "Between, while very interesting scientifically, doesn't really have any immediately apparent application that would interest the military when they are looking at seeing real money for deploying new systems. It's a case of having it today versus what they might have in twenty years."

"So what you're saying is that for now, we shouldn't expect a repeat of what happened to Jared?" Harry asked.

Jasper nodded, "Call it a gut feeling, but it's what I believe."

Harry turned to Skip and Kat. "It's your Weyr and I'll support any decision you make including relocating to another country if need be."

Skip and Kat shared an unhappy look, it was obvious they were hoping Harry would decide for them.

"I don't really want it to come to that point," Skip said in a pained voice looking at his wife.

"Can't we keep that as an option along with our other options? I mean we've increased our level of scrutiny on all research projects and the riders have been told to insist on seeing the written work orders signed by Doctor Standish and initialed by one of us, isn't that enough?" Kat added.

Harry sighed softly. "Jasper, would you excuse us for a moment?"

Jasper looked surprised, but he reluctantly stood and said, "I'll be in the outer office until you need me."

"Thank you Jasper," Harry said while still looking at the two Condron Weyrleaders. Once the door had closed behind Jasper Harry ran a hand through his hair and then shook his head. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing all of the other Weyrs, including this one a disservice by retaining final say. Skip, Kat, talk to me, what do you think you should do?"

Kat stood and walked over to stand behind Skip. She placed her hands on Skip's shoulders. "Harry, I know what the government did was a breach of our treaty and trust, but if Jasper is right, then it was a one time thing and we have measures in place to ensure it doesn't happen again. This is our home, I don't want to leave it over something that might never happen again."

"Then don't Kat," Harry retorted. "Look, this is your Weyr, your ultimate responsibility is to your riders and your dragons. The government slipped something by you once, but now you'll be on the look out for that happening again. As far as I'm concerned, the only time I will exert any authority is if I believe that you two are endangering your Weyr, and that is something I seriously doubt will ever happen from you two.

"Ask my advice and I'll tell you what I think, but I will not override your authority unless it's absolutely necessary," Harry said firmly.

"What do you think we should do?" asked Skip.

Harry leaned back on his chair. "Well since the law suit is a bust or nearly so and you have measures in place to prevent repeating this episode I'd say continue as usual for now. But! If this happens again you will not be able to ignore it, you'll have to do something and we now know that legally our options are very limited."

"So we'd have to do something other than another law suit," Kat said softly.

"Could we go to the press with the story?" Skip asked.

Kat shook her head. "Hardly, if there is a repeat, it will be classified like this time and just talking about it can get us arrested."

"So what? We do nothing?" demanded Skip.

"No Skip," replied Kat. "We give Jasper official notice to take to his superiors that we will not tolerate another incident like this. I think we should also modify our commercial contracts such that they will terminated if we're forced to relocate. That will bring an economic impact to bear on their actions as well."

Harry nodded and sat back on his chair, sipping his drink. He watched his Weyrleaders thrash out a formal position, then Skip quickly typed it up on his computer. His only involvement at that point was to agree that Michel would be detained if he showed up at any Weyr. Harry also made a note to ask Remus if there was a way Jared could provide a memory of the man so they could reproduce a photograph.

Skip took the single page document from his printer tray and passed it to Harry. He briefly scanned it, then gave it to Kat. "Make me an extra copy of that so I can pass it along to Remus and ask Jasper to come on back in," he said.

Kat nodded and walked to the door. She spoke briefly to someone outside and then opened the door wider.

Jasper took his seat again in front of Skip's desk and Kat moved to stand behind him. "Jasper, we appreciate all you have done for us. We would like you to deliver this statement to your superiors concerning our response should this incident ever be repeated," Kat said.

Jasper looked between Skip and Kat, and he noted that Harry had remained silent during this affair. It was a gesture of confidence for the American Weyrleaders from The Weyrleader.

Kat handed over the paper and Jasper quickly read through it. He noted the list of options that the Weyr could take should the government try this again and he also noted that Michel had been declared Persona Non Grata in any Weyr in the world and they would detain him if he were caught. The language and phrasing of that section was pure Harry and Jasper knew it. Condron was sending several messages with this document, but he doubted his bosses would be savvy enough to pick up on them.

"I'll deliver this tomorrow," he said softly. He knew his bosses weren't going to like it, but for now at least, cooler heads had prevailed and they had staved off some of the more drastic things they could have done. He would point that out to his superiors, but he doubted they would heed the warnings.

**Along the Russian/Finnish Border, June 2001...**

The Ilyushin Il-18M turboprop aircraft banked hard, just shy of the Finnish border and the pilot put the aircraft onto a parallel course to the border. In the back of the aircraft another crew fired up the powerful radar system that probed far into Finland. They had flown this track many times over the years, but never while looking for live targets.

Nearby two pairs of MIG-31 interceptors rode guard over the reconnaissance aircraft.

The Ilyushin, called COOT by NATO, was an old plane from the mid 60s that had proven to be extremely versatile to the old Soviet government and now the Russian government. The plane had found itself in many roles, including short haul passenger and freight carrying. This particular version however was designed to be an airborne radar and intelligence gathering platform.

Although officially called a 'training exercise', this particular mission had a unique purpose in mind, as they were particularly interested in a commercial airfield just fifty miles inside the Finnish border that shared space with a Dragon Weyr. A Weyr that used to contain dragons that had once called Russia home.

"Radar contact bearing three zero two, speed one forty, range seventy kilometers," called a radar operator.

The watch officer glanced down to examine the repeater screen that showed the same information as the operator. "Looks like a commercial flight taking off," he muttered. "Designate contact Sasha one and continue to track, but it's probably a commercial flight."

"Designate Sasha one and track," repeated the operator with a large grin. Sasha was the name of his wife, and the entire air crew honored her by naming their contacts after her. Privately most of the air crew wished she wasn't married to Mikail. She was a very beautiful and devoted wife.

The watch officer reached down under his seat and pulled out a thermos. He poured himself a cup of coffee and idly watched the screen. They would be on station for another six hours before starting the two hour flight home.

Two hours later and the watch officer was fighting the boredom by running a series of tracking exercises when the primary radar operator interrupted. "Multiple radar contacts bearing two six three, range two hundred and closing at four hundred kph. This looks like inbound interceptors. I count six of them."

The watch officer turned away from his drill book and looked at the screen for a moment. He frowned and flipped a switch on his console that allowed him to talk to the pilot and the pilots of their guard flight. "Multiple contacts on intercept course, six contacts bearing now two six two, speed four hundred, distance one hundred eighty and closing," he announced.

The Ilyushin Il-18M surged as the pilots advanced to full throttle. Nearby the Mig-31s closed the distance. No one thought the incoming planes would shoot, but no one willing to risk the precious reconnaissance aircraft either.

The aircraft coming up were part of a small purchase made by the Finnish Air Force from the Americans a few years earlier. Six F18a aircraft stopped short of the border and turned parallel to the course held by the Russians. The pilots of the Finnish planes were alarmed by what they saw and several used personal digital cameras to record the fact that the Russian interceptors had white missiles under their wings.

Countries had long ago had adopted a simple convention when arming their aircraft. Blue painted weapons were training weapons with little to no explosive force behind them. White weapons were weapons of war and the Russians, unlike the Fins, were packing for a fight.

Two of the Finnish planes broke formation and went to full military power, leaving the area at speeds just shy of supersonic. They would return within forty minutes carrying war rounds under their wings.

The two groups of aircraft flew only a mile apart for nearly an hour before the reconnaissance aircraft turned away, heading home. The presence of the Finnish aircraft was interfering with their mission, so the mission commander decided to end it early. During that time hundreds of photos were taken by both sides. It would take another week before someone noticed that there were a pair of dragons in the distance on a couple of the photographs. A careful examination of the radar tapes proved to the Russian Air Force general that ordered the mission that the dragons were not visible on radar.

It took longer for the information concerning the Russian flight to reach the right people on the other side of the border. Finland is the only non-NATO European nation that borders Russia and they don't routinely share information with their NATO counterparts. In this particular case a German officer stationed at the embassy heard about the Russian flight over cocktails with a friend in the Finnish Air Force.

No one would make the connection to the fact that the Russian flight was close to Joensuu, the Finnish Dragon Weyr but the next time the COOT rose to patrol the border, it was met with Finnish aircraft and both sets of fighters had white missiles under their wings.

**Barcelona Spain, September 5th 2001...**

Carlos the Gerbil was beyond bored. His superiors in the Spanish Ministry felt that his involvement in the "British affair" had seriously damaged his ability to move freely around the continent. It was true that he had to take more precautions than usual, but he disagreed with his bosses.

Despite that, he was temporarily grounded by his bosses. His employer's caution was slowing the effort to slow the construction of the Dragon Power stations. Success in that endeavor had been mixed at best, some countries were simply out of reach from his organization and others had taken to providing intensive security for the construction sites. He had managed to delay or slow some sites, but despite all efforts, no one had stopped construction and in some cases, the disruption was scarcely noticeable.

He chugged down his drink, then signaled to a nearby waiter to bring him another. The waiter nodded with a smile because he knew Carlos tipped well, then he turned and moved towards the bar. As he moved, he revealed a table with a solitary occupant. Carlos' eyes widened and he glanced down at his empty drink. It was his first drink so he wasn't drunk enough to mistake identity of the person at the table.

He shook his head and blinked, then he looked again.

Not twenty feet away sat his Anna, the prostitute that proved so useful to him when he was in Britain. She was as beautiful as ever, and dressed to the nines.

_What is she doing here?_ He wondered. In a moment of weakness he had given her a business card to a secret safe house a friend ran for him. It was a means of contacting him, but she had never used it, of that he was sure. The woman he paid to maintain the house would have contacted him if Anna had tried to reach him there.

Anna pulled a small compact from her purse and adjusted her makeup briefly. It took her only a moment to spot Carlos in the table behind her and she smiled to herself. After she and Carlos had parted ways Anna had set herself up very nicely in the muggle world running a clairvoyant/fortune telling service. She would have continued quite happily, swindling people out of their savings, but for the fact that she ended up swindling the wrong person. The aged mother of a deputy Minister gave up her life savings to contact her dead husband. And while Anna did have magical abilities, necromancy was not among her talents.

Anna had been capable of using her magic to provide a convincing performance, but when the woman's son discovered she was nearly broke, he contacted people at CID for more information about Anna.

Official interest in Anna and her operation grew as CID investigated her. Her name had come up in the operation to catch Carlos and here she was now acting as a common thief. Her involvement with Carlos brought the DMLE into the investigation and new charges were laid against her as her victims tested positive for compulsion and confundus spells.

Two muggle investigators and two aurors, posing as a pair of married couples visited several times with Anna personally before arresting her. The fact that she had been arrested had so shocked Anna that she was disarmed before she could even reach for her wand.

The trip to CID headquarters allowed the cops to prime Anna for her interrogators by listing all of the charges she was going to be charged with. By the time she arrived, Anna was sweating heavily and certain she was about to go to prison, muggle prison, for the rest of her natural life. The fact that she was currently wearing magic suppressing handcuffs wasn't helping matters. She had been told that the DMLE was willing to let CID handle the matter and she would be most likely sent to a muggle prison with her magic suppressed.

And then CID laid their offer down on the table.

Anna had been given a choice, life in prison wearing magic suppressing wrist bands, or she could work with the government while on a closely monitored probation. Ever the realist she opted for the later figuring probation was better than prison. It was a decision that she was quickly coming to regret as her new masters set her up entrapping some of her old business associates. Anna quickly realized that even when her probation ran out, there would be no returning to her old life.

Now she was on loan from the British to the Interpol led task force of anti-terrorist forces that was trying to capture Carlos for his suspected role in the power plant sabotages as well as older charges.

Anna put her compact away, then she smiled brightly and waved to her contact who approached her table. She loathed the man, a German who treated her like dirt. There was little choice in the matter for her, he held her strings and had absolutely no interest in her sexually, denying her even that weapon.

The man nodded and smiled thinly, then he took a seat at her table.

Carlos watched from his table with interest. Anna looked like she was working again, albeit with a higher class of clientèle than what she had in Knockturn alley. That she was here, in Barcelona, intrigued him. She had been a valuable asset in Britain and perhaps she could be again. He stood and tossed some money on the table, then he walked out, never looking back. As he left, he stopped and slipped the maître d'hôtel some money to find out if Anna was staying at the hotel and if so, what room.

The man smirked at Carlos thinking he was looking to hire her and Carlos felt a momentary desire to strangle the man.

Anna's eyes tracked Carlos as he left, then she turned her attention back to her controller. "He is gone ja?"

"Yes, he just left after speaking to the head waiter," she replied.

"Then we wait, return to your room and stay there, my men are stationed nearby. Do not think about warning the Gerbil off," the man said imperiously, then he stood, leaving her alone.

Anna dropped her eyes to the table. She had been thinking just that. If she could just figure out a way to warn Carlos then perhaps with his help, she could break away from the people controlling her.

**Weyrleader Meeting, Campbeltown Weyr, September 12th, 2001...**

Harry waited until everyone had seated before beginning. He had called for this meeting in light of recent events and everyone was tense, there was little of the usual banter that accompanied the meeting.

Normally the Weyrleaders and their seconds would spend an hour or more just fraternizing with their peers, or sometimes arranging for trades of goods and people. It wasn't unusual for a Weyr to have several people looking for a change of scenery, transfers between Weyrs, permanent and temporary were easily taken care of during such meetings or at the Weyrleaders meeting that occurred at each impression.

Once everyone had taken their seats Harry looked around, in one corner Hermione sat ready to take notes. He could have used his secretary for this, but Hermione was one of the few people Harry trusted implicitly and she wanted to continue doing this for him. They only met once a month for a few hours, so it was no great hardship for her.

Hermione glanced down at her dicta-quill, then nodded to Harry. She would retype the minutes, but the dicta-quill would record every word spoken during the meeting. It had a distinct advantage over a tape recorder because the quill picked up things that most microphones wouldn't pick up and it never garbled a word.

He touched a small glowing gem in front of him and the walls glowed with a soft blue sparkle. It had been a gift from the Minister for Magic in Japan. With it, one could seal a room from all magical forms of eavesdropping. It was a rare artifact from a grateful nation that was enjoying the benefits of having a dragon weyr in their country.

With the room secure he turned to one of his Weyrleaders.

"Lobsang, you are probably the only person here that might be unaware of what happened yesterday?" Harry asked.

Lobsang shook his head. "No Weyrleader, our good friends at Sakujima provided us with a most excellent short wave radio which we have been using to help teach everyone in the Weyr English. We listened to the broadcasts from the BBC in horror. I even sent a message to Skip offering a full division to help with rescue efforts."

"Not that they were needed, but thank you again Lobsang," Kat said darkly. The destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City had the potential for thousands of injuries. Unfortunately it was becoming very apparent that there would be few survivors.

The Weyr had wanted to go help, but no one had asked for their help. And then, soon after all planes had been grounded they received a frantic call from Jasper Brady warning them that anything flying over America risked being shot down. Skip reluctantly ordered all of the dragons, from all three American Weyrs to ground until further notice.

Skip and Kat had both used a very low altitude jump Between to make it to Campbeltown for this meeting. The only planes in America's skies were military planes and right now tensions were enormously high.

Kat crossed her arms and shivered slightly. She had been born in Boston and raised on the East Coast of the United States, to her the twin towers were an iconic symbol of New York. The world had changed forever just the day before and no one knew what the future would bring.

Harry smiled at Lobsang, then he turned to Kat and Skip, the Co-Weyrleaders of Condron Weyr and his expression darkened. "Campbeltown grieves along with your country for the loss of life, but I need to caution everyone to maintain their focus and perspective. While we can help our host country with humanitarian efforts, such as search and rescue of injured, we cannot become embroiled in a conflict as an active participant. Nor can we just show up uninvited."

Skip opened his mouth to speak but Harry held up a hand. "I know Skip, but this is something that we have to be above. Offer your services for search and rescue, offer to help move aid workers and material, but refrain from rushing out to punish some enemy unless he attacks the Weyr."

He paused and leaned back in his chair. "This morning," he said, "I spoke at length with Prime Minister Blair who warned me that some of the people believed to be involved in this attack are also against dragons. It is a legitimate concern, but right now they only have suspicions and I will not allow us to become involved in any action that hasn't involved us directly. I repeated to Minister Blair our intention to offer humanitarian aide wherever and whenever needed, but we shall not aid in fighting terrorists unless they attack us."

"The Americans have not asked for our assistance and we cannot go in uninvited. It doesn't help that our relations with the American Federal government is strained by the incident involving Jared and one of their military research groups."

"That's true enough," Skip admitted. "We have no problems at the local level, but there has been a marked cooling at the federal level. Jasper has been working overtime trying to help thaw the tension, but it's been slow going."

Harry paused and glanced over to a large TV that sat nearby. It was on, but muted and was showing the collapse of tower one in slow motion. He shivered from a primal mixture of fear, anger and sheer helplessness, then he turned back to the others. He knew that everyone was considering one additional item and wondering if it could help. It was time to put an end to this before it got out of hand.

"I know that our time traveling abilities must have crossed your minds," Harry said softly. "But consider this, how do you safely stop an airliner full of people in midflight when it's piloted by a crazed zealot? I don't know how and can't think of anything except flaming that plane and causing it to crash. The dragons might be able to catch a plane and prevent it from crashing, but they'd have to do it right, at least four times. And flaming a plane? What if it explodes, or breaks up?

"If even one airliner crashed because we intervened the world would have blamed us for those deaths. Our ability to time travel is a secret for a good reason, it is our weapon of last resort and one which I pray we never have to use. Using it to involve ourselves in this tragedy would put all of the Weyrs at risk, not just Condron. Right now the world is insane with anger and we don't need that anger pointed at us."

Kat paled and looked away, she had been seriously thinking of proposing exactly that. It hadn't occurred to her what would have happened if they failed to succeed for all four planes. Nor had she considered how they would have managed to bring down one plane, let alone four.

Harry waved to a map on one wall that marked all of the Weyrs in the world, manned and unmanned.

"We are very weak," he said softly. "Just eight manned Weyrs and two new ones due to open at the next hatching. Joensuu and Shetland Island have less than two hundred and forty riders right now and Lake Minnewanka has even fewer. If someone were to attack them like they did in the states our losses would be enormous. As it stands Joensuu and Shetland are still building their strength and are finally able to maintain their own round the clock patrols. Our Canadian Weyr is unable to do anything close to round the clock patrols and won't be for at least two more hatchings.

"If we get involved in this attack, we risk being attacked ourselves. No, the Weyrs cannot be seen to be involved here unless it's for humanitarian reasons. Personally I would like nothing more than to gather all the people that caused this attack to take place, and have the dragons flame that gathering to the ground. But for the good of my Weyrs and my dragons I have to step back though it tears at my soul to do so. I'm sorry Skip, Kat, this is a real tragedy in every possible way, and one which we can do little about."

Skip sagged back in his chair and blew out a noisy breath. "This is one of those times when what you want isn't what is important. The safety of our dragons and riders overrides everything," he murmured, then he turned to Harry. "And if someone does attack us?"

Harry smiled a feral grin. "Then the Weyrs will fight back with all of the abilities of the dragons and their riders."

"Even time travel?" asked Kat intently.

Harry turned to her. "Within reason Kat. For example, if an attack comes against a Weyr, we cannot simply go back in time and attack first. The world would condemn us for attacking an enemy first. But we could send a dragon back with a warning to evacuate a Weyr, and then after the attack, retaliate with all our might."

"Wouldn't that upset the time line?" asked Isikara Yuko, Weyrleader of Sakushima Weyr.

"Would it?" countered Harry. "By my reasoning, the future and the past are both changeable. Sidraneth came back in time to Earth, many thousands of years ago. Either her arrival created a new reality, parallel to the old one, or history is changeable. The people that study this kind of stuff don't know if there are multiple parallel universes, or history is changeable. Personally I don't believe nature would allow for a paradox to occur, that old tale of going back in time and killing your grandfather thus causing you not to be born.

"Confusing isn't it?" He asked with a grin. "What impact does that have on Pern? We know about dragons now, if we ever did return to Pern, it would be with our own dragons. The old Pern time line wouldn't be repeated, it would be all brand new. I have read about this a little, the science is beyond me but I think Sidraneth's arrival set the stage for a new range of possible futures."

"This is an interesting topic, but I fear one which gives me much pain in my head," Lobsang said as he rubbed his temples. "Master Jang Bu would say, 'let the future worry about itself while we deal with today'. The Weyrleader is right to be cautious, and right to say that we will use all our abilities. But for today, time travel is still restricted and we have no need to worry ourselves over something that might not come to pass."

"He's right. Debating this now is pointless," Ismo Sippola, Joensuu's Weyrleader added. "So for now, our policy is unchanged. Help with truly humanitarian efforts and let the nations worry about crime and war."

Harry glanced around and saw everyone nodding in agreement. He relaxed as relief flooded through his body. The attack on America was terrible and it had a small chance to draw the dragons away from the neutrality that they needed.

"All right then, moving on, I have a request here from Arron for two wings to be loaned to Minnewanka Weyr for added security," Harry said.

Arron Twosta looked up and grinned sheepishly. As the newest Weyrleader, and currently representing the smallest Weyr with only eighty riders and one hundred and sixty non-bonded dragons, he was the one person that felt most out of place at this meeting.

"My first thought was to assign several wings from Campbeltown, but after some consideration I changed my mind," Harry said softly. "Campbeltown will send one wing, but I'm asking for two more Weyrs to commit a wing a piece. In light of recent events I think it's crucial that we combine efforts to help out the newly forming Weyrs. Minnewanka should be capable of providing it's own security in another year, until then the established Weyrs need to help until the Weyr can field at least two divisions."

"Two hundred dragons? Might not be enough," commented Skip.

Harry nodded. "I know, but we can deal with it on a Weyr by Weyr basis, agreed?"

Harry and Arron looked around and noted everyone nodding in agreement. Arron sighed in relief, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to protect his Weyr and considering yesterday's attack, there was room to worry.

"Arron, I do have one piece of good news. Mildred Lupin has surveyed your Weyr and there is a nearby parcel of land that she'd like the Weyrs to purchase so that we can install a small research grade observatory. She has also agreed to start teaching select riders astronomy, physics and math. It is hoped that one of the universities will accredit the classes so that the students can use the class towards their degree," Harry said with a smile. "I've approved a preliminary budget for the construction of an observatory and Mildred has already placed an order for the telescope, which I understand will take over a year to build. Meanwhile Mildred is going to order some off the shelf telescopes once we have a place for them. It looks like Minnewanka will be our star gazing Weyr."

Arron smiled brightly at Harry. He had been hoping that Mildred's project would be approved. Each Weyr struggled to find one particular niche they could fill and his Weyr's location was perfect for such an endeavor. The Weyr was miles from the nearest human town and there was little light pollution to obscure their frequent pristine night skies.

**Room 4108, Hotel International, Barcelona, Spain, September 12th 2001...**

Carlos smiled to himself. He had learned where Anna had been staying the very next day, but a little investigation by his people also told him that Anna was being forced to work for Interpol, presumably to catch him.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was bothering, but something about Anna drew him to her. He knew it couldn't be love because that was an emotion he refused to consider himself capable of.

It had taken him a few days, but now he had managed to scope out the entire floor. Most of the rooms were empty, or occupied by random strangers. The newlywed couple in 4105 gave his men several nights of entertainment, but Carlos was more interested in 4110 and 4109. Those rooms contained the men that watched Anna constantly.

She had made nightly appearances in the restaurant downstairs, and a few time at a nearby club that Carlos was known to visit on occasion. To keep up Interpol's interest while he planned his move he would sometimes appear in those locations just after Anna had left, or leaving before she showed up. It had been tricky, but he had never managed to allow Anna to contact him, while her minders had spotted him at those locations.

Anna was at the heart of the problem. He knew she was being forced to work with these people, but he also knew she was a treacherous individual who would sacrifice anyone to save her own skin. If he was going to save her, it would be to his advantage for her to think she owes him a life debt.

Life debts were nebulous things, hard to define and even harder to quantify. The wizarding world knew that the process of saving someone created a debt, but the debt itself was entirely controlled by the savior. Often the person who had the debt would go out of their way to pay it back in some manner when the person they are paying back hasn't asked for any such payment.

There was no spell to detect a life debt, no way of verifying its existence at all. And because of that ambiguity Carlos could engineer a situation where Anna thought she 'owed' Carlos even though she really didn't.

Now he had an excellent idea of the situation. Anna had a controller who had a room adjacent to hers, and there was a security detail of two men that monitored Anna when she used the room for sleeping. During the day she would be paraded out to tour the city in the hopes of stumbling over Carlos.

He was comforted to discover that she was sleeping alone and her controller treated her with barely concealed contempt.

Carlos had just two men from his usual group helping him. They were discrete and very loyal to Carlos alone, and most importantly, even his employers didn't know about them. Due to the nature of his work, Carlos received more than enough money to payroll his own little organization. This way, his men could say that they worked for Carlos and not the Spanish Ministry for Magic.

Adelbert Ziegler absently slid his key card into the door lock when something appeared in his peripheral vision. He turned with one hand reaching for his service weapon, but he was too late.

"Dominar," whispered Carlos from the open doorway opposite his own. Ziegler paused mid-turn and his expression slackened. "Enter your room."

The man turned and pushed the door open. Carlos followed immediately behind him.

"You are watching the woman in 4112, why?" asked Carlos.

"She is bait for a terrorist," Ziegler replied. The Imperious curse wasn't quite as good as a dose of Veritaserum, but it would work in a pinch if you asked the right questions.

"Is she working for you willingly?"

"Nein, the bitch was given to us by the British. She must do as we say or she will go to prison."

Carlos nodded, this was something he already knew. "And when you find your terrorist?"

"She will still go to prison," Ziegler said flatly. "My men have found the messages she's been leaving behind in the hopes that someone would rescue her. I am trying to arrange for her to go to a good German prison, the British are too easy on their prisoners."

Carlos frowned, in the past three days he had learned that this man had a serious hatred for women. There was no doubt in Carlos' mind that whatever he had planned for Anna would be unpleasant and would perhaps cost her her life.

"I want you to listen carefully to these instructions, then you will carry them out to the letter, do you understand me?"

"Ya, I understand," Ziegler replied in a monotone.

Behind him the door cracked open and one of his men stepped inside. "It is done Carlos, the watchers are all dead."

"And the girl?"

The man grinned, "A little roughed up and used, but she'll do. She's the right height and general build which will make the polyjuice more effective."

"Excellent, keep her quiet until we leave, then you know what to do," Carlos said.

"Si Carlos, it will be our pleasure," replied his man, then he turned and left the room.

Carlos turned back to Ziegler and started to give him a detailed list of instructions. In a way he regretted what he was about to put Anna through, but he wanted her allegiance and for her to willingly give that she would have to believe she owed him a life debt.

**Ministry for Magic, September 12th 2001...**

Sir William looked up and frowned at the expression worn by Arthur Weasley. The man looked haggard.

"Well? From your expression I take it things didn't go well?" asked Sir William.

Arthur looked up and shook his head wearily. "No, they went well enough I suppose. I guess its just that this all came as a total shock to us."

"In what way?"

Arthur wiped at his face tiredly and then pulled his wand. William tensed for a moment, then he remembered that Arthur took an oath which prevented him from harming him. "This wand is both a weapon and a tool. With it I can end a life, or help create a life by increasing fertility," Arthur said, then he looked up at William. "But that's just one life, even Riddle couldn't kill three thousand people in a single day. In his first ten year rise to power we think he's responsible for eleven hundred wizard deaths and nearly twenty two hundred muggle deaths. In ten years and most of those deaths were done by his followers, the Death Eaters. I've seen the figures, barely fifty wizards and even fewer muggle deaths can be placed at his feet in that decade."

"Yesterday," Alejandro Croaker said.

"Yes, yesterday," Arthur agreed. "Yesterday over three thousand people died in a handful of hours. That's something no wizard could accomplish. That's something no one in their right mind would want to accomplish and it's only the beginning. Hermione Granger once told me that the muggles have weapons that can destroy London, killing everyone in the city in a matter of minutes."

"Seconds actually," Sir William said unhappily. "A single nuclear weapon dropped on London at noon on a weekday could kill four million people instantly, and more millions would suffer a lingering, painful death in the weeks to follow."

Arthur shook his head ruefully. "I went to the Daily Prophet today to try to clear up their ideas about what happened yesterday, but the more I explained the more I realized how stupid we've been to ignore the muggle world. The Weyrleader might be a mage, he might be a wizard, but he is right. It is a muggle owned world and we would be foolish to forget that fact."

"It's a hard blow," Croaker admitted. "It took the Italians and the Greeks over a hundred wizards working in concert to blow up that island. And they killed themselves in the process, we still don't know what spell was used, or if it was just a fluke accident. The muggles have machines that can kill so many more than that."

Sir William turned to look at him and arched an eyebrow in question.

Croaker looked at him sheepishly. "While we may no longer teach our children that wizards are superior, but this kind of news really highlights how far behind we have fallen. The Prophet reported the story and got some of the facts wrong because they didn't want to believe them. Arthur went over there today to straighten them out, but it's still humbling. The Prophet didn't want to believe that the muggles could build machines capable of carrying hundreds of people and fly. Not a single one of our buildings is capable of holding three thousand people, and yet the death toll could have been thirty thousand from just one of those buildings. Only our Quidditch stadiums are that big and those are temporary buildings that vanish with the magic. Plus I understand that our Quidditch stadiums are small compared to some muggle stadiums.

Croaker paused and took a breath. "It was a terrible thing that happened, but for the wizarding world it was a shock. A terrible shock because it highlighted in a single instant how far we have fallen behind the muggles. People are frightened, they went from believing they were safe from muggles to knowing that a single muggle can end the lives of many."

"In a way there is one silver lining from this tragedy," Arthur offered.

"What would that be?" asked Sir William. Anything that could be construed as good news at this time would be something to grasp and hold onto tightly. He personally knew some of the victims of the attack.

"Several of the holdouts for the Dumbledore plan at the ICW have contacted me and asked for my help in talking to their government. Yesterday's attack scared them off the fence and changed their attitude. Not all of the holdouts, but enough. The measure will pass easily with their support. Previously it had been iffy that it would pass."

"Well that's something then," muttered Sir William, then he sighed. "I suppose I should pass that information along to the PM."

Arthur nodded, it had been a very long haul to get the plan to this point. Several times in the past two years he had presented it before the delegates and each time it had been sent back to committee for modification. With several of the abstaining votes swinging in favor of the plan he was certain it would be passed this year.

Sir William considered the conversation, then he made a note to himself to see if oaths could be used in other areas. He would need to speak to Director Shacklebolt and Stokes to see what they thought.

* * *

**Author's notes and Mockeries:**

* I have become convinced that a vast bulk of the people are ignoring these notes. Why else would I continue to get reviews and pms asking if I am going to include 9/11 in this story. To prove that point and to answer that question for the last time (I've already answered it SEVERAL times) I am going to state here that no, we will never even mention 9/11 in this story, ever. Oh and as I type this, I am naked, smoking a cigar and sitting on a pile of rubber ducks. But since no one reads these notes, no one will care. I don't want to mention it, but one of these ducks is getting really personal.

* KB0, Finland as a resort offers a large variety of winter sports and the Joensuu Weyrleader comes from a long line of Inn keepers who know how to keep their customers happy even when the weather turns sour. Besides, for some reason most people seem to forget that cuddling and sharing body heat is a very old, very traditional and very popular winter sport. Cheers!

* LovestoRead247 wants the tension building to end so that they can read the story in one sitting. Ummm boring, but ok heres the story in one sitting.

Harry

Dragons

Implied sex

War

Boom Crash Bang!

Happy Ending.

There you go, the story in one sitting. Sorry, but setting the stage for events takes time. Lots of little pieces need to be added together before you can figure out what the puzzle is showing you. So be patient grasshopper.

* Shadow315 your car lights are still on! :)

* 1Batman4u, yeah Harry could purchase an island, but he's not going to. That particular problem will be eventually resolved but I'm not going to say how here. I'd give you a hint but Alyx used up our allowance of invisible pixels in the last chapter's disclaimer. Sorry.

* JDL45 if you think about, the attitudes you are seeing in the story are merely attitudes that we all saw in real life during this time frame. Did any of us complain when we suddenly needed to be searched to board a plane, or when we find US Border patrol holding spot checks on US Interstate highways? Future historians will recognize the first decade of this century as the single greatest erosion of personal liberties the US has seen in more than 200 years of existence. Annoying? Hell yeah.

Not every host nation will be perfectly friendly to their Weyr. Some, like the British will understand that the Weyr is truly beneficial as long as they are treated in a friendly and honest manner. And some wouldn't know a honest manner if they were hit over the head with it. Despite being American myself, the American government is going to fall into the dishonest category. If that bothers you, tough. This is one of those cases where I'm the author and what I write is what I write. So nana nana boo boo.

So adult of me I know. :)

ps. I'm not sure, but I think I'm now engaged to a rubber duck!


	9. Chapter 9

**Standard Disclaimer:**

Bob sat calmly center stage, munching on a handful of grapes and watching Luke Skywalker make his infamous death star trench run.

"Lose the porch Luke," Bob muttered. Bob wouldn't admit it to anyone, but sometimes he did have hearing problems.

Alyx walked out onto the stage and stopped short. She had been expecting Bob to be giving the disclaimer for this chapter.

"Juke, bruise the torch," Bob said while leaning forward in his seat. He always loved this part, even if the dialog seemed a little strange to him.

Alyx reached around him and flipped off the television. "What are you doing," she said icily. In fact her tone was so frosty one of her nipples popped off and hit Bob in the eye. She hated when she lost a nipple, they always took so long to glue back on! And don't ask her why her bras have holes in them unless you want to die.

"ARGH!" Bob screamed, clutching at one eye. "What's wrong with you woman? I told you to keep your nipples from popping off!"

Alyx sighed and picked up the errant nipple and stuffed it in her pocket. "Enough about me, it's your turn for a disclaimer this week! And what? I find you watching Star Wars again!"

Bob waved her off. "I've decided that the disclaimers are just too much trouble, so we're not going to tell people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragonriders of Pern anymore."

Alyx stared at Bob in shock and her lower lip started to quiver. "No disclaimers? When will I get to play with my power tools? When will I be able to torture random reviewer number six? What about Snape?"

"All a thing of the past, but I have made some slight arrangements to keep you amused, now if you don't mind I'd like to watch my movie!"

Alyx nodded unhappily and shuffled off the stage while Bob turned on the TV again. "Puke, I am more bother," he muttered with a frown. Bob was certain that was a code for something, but now, 20 years later and he still hadn't figured that one out.

Suddenly from offstage Alyx screamed and ran across the stage, her clothing in tatters. Bob glanced up when the mob of forty pygmy mutant zombie cannibals ran after her in hot pursuit. "Oh good, she found my arrangements," Bob muttered and turned back to the tv.

Alyx ran back across the stage again, this time in the opposite direction. As she ran past she hit the switch to start the chapter. "I'll get you for this," she snarled at Bob, then screeched again when the pygmy mutant zombie cannibals appeared.

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 09  
Relationships Gone Public **

* * *

**A safe house in Garraf, Spain, September 15th 2001...**

Anna woke to an intense pain in her head. She moaned and slowly lifted one arm about half way before letting it fall back to the bed. Her arm felt like it weighed a ton and slight jostle of the bed when her arm fell made her head pound even harder.

"Shhh, easy little girl," said a kindly voice.

She slowly turned her head until an old woman came into view. "Who?" she whispered. She blinked several times before the old woman came into focus. There was something wrong with her vision, like she couldn't open her eyelids all the way.

"I am Maria and I've been taking care of you since Carlos brought you to me. Near dead you were girl, and I'm still amazed that Carlos would go to the trouble. Now you be still and let the potions do their job," Maria replied.

"Where where am I?"

"You're in a safe house that I keep for Carlos. Sometimes he needs medical help and I still remember my way around a human body," Maria said, then she cackled softly as if amused by her own joke. "Carlos rescued you from some guy that was beating you and brought you to me. Do what I tell you and I'll let you out of that bed in three days. Ignore me and I'll keep you there for a week. Even if you do leave that bed in a few days, you have many months of healing ahead of you."

"Where is Carlos?"

Maria smiled slightly. "Now that you're awake I'll contact him. I'm sure he'll turn up today or tomorrow. In the meantime I have some more potions for you, and then a small meal. You'll nap most of the day but that's perfectly normal."

Maria turned a crank at the bottom of the bed, raising it until Anna was sitting up, then she walked over to a tray with potions and started to hand them to Anna one at a time.

Anna dutifully drank the potions and sighed in relief as the pain faded to a dull throb. Her whole face ached and throbbed. She tried to remember what happened, but the last thing she remembered was opening the door to her hotel room for Ziegler.

She reached up and touched her face and then looked at Maria in alarm. Her cheek felt swollen and puffy, the skin hot and taut to the touch.

"Now now dear, yes you do look a fright, but you look a lot better than you did when they brought you here. Don't you worry, the swelling will go down in time," Maria said soothingly, then she laid a tray in Anna's lap containing some kind of porridge, coffee and a small soft roll.

"Eat and I will tell you what I know. Unfortunately I can't tell you how you got injured, but I can explain your injuries," Maria offered.

Anna nodded and slowly spooned some porridge up while she listened to Maria talk. She couldn't help but wince at the long list of injuries she had sustained, her face with two broken cheek bones was only a small part of that list. A broken collarbone, bruised pelvis and several broken ribs not to mention numerous bruises and three missing teeth.

Maria had just about finished describing in exacting detail her treatments when the door opened and Carlos stepped in.

"Maria, that will be all," he said curtly.

Maria meekly nodded and stood, then she gave Carlos a little curtsy before scurrying from the room.

Carlos moved to sit in the chair Maria had just vacated. "Maria is a good healer and she knows when to keep secrets, but if you let her, she will talk until your ears fall off and catch fire," he said gravely, then he looked her over. "You may not agree with me, but you look much better than when we found you."

Anna placed her spoon on the tray and looked up at Carlos. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"I noticed you several days ago," Carlos admitted. "It took several days to track you down and figure out what was going on."

"They were forcing me to help them hunt you," she admitted in a whisper. "I didn't want to, but I had been threatened with prison time in a muggle prison with magic suppressing bracelets."

"I know. Like I said it took some time to figure out what was going on. What I didn't understand was the man that was running the operation, that muggle, was unbalanced."

Anna's eyes widened. "Unbalanced? I knew he hated me but..."

"Anna, he hated all women. He had visited one of the local brothels that specialized in more exotic entertainment and used to hire girls that he could beat. We had just moved into one of the adjacent rooms in the hotel when he went berserk. He shot his own people, then he went to your room and started to beat you with his pistol."

Ziegler had hired a number of specialty prostitutes, that much was true, but the rest of Carlos' tale was pure frabrication.

Anna winced and lifted up a trembling hand to wipe away the sweat from her brow. Having been in the business she knew that some clients required special services. It was an aspect of the field she had shied away from during her career in Knockturn Alley.

Her sleeve slid back and for the first time she noted the deep bruising that could have only come from trying to ward off a blow.

She stared at her arm for a moment, then she looked up at Carlos. "What happened?"

"I killed him," Carlos admitted truthfully. The fact that he had been commanded to shoot himself when Carlos opened the door was inconsequential to the tale he was spinning. "I killed him and had one of my boys find a prostitute that was roughly your size. We polyjuiced her to look like you, then shot her with his pistol, making it look like he killed you, then himself. After that, we brought you back here and gave you to Maria for healing. That was nearly three days ago."

Tears started to slid down Anna's cheeks and Carlos was surprised that she was capable of such. She weakly reached for his hand and he reluctantly took her hand in his. She pulled his hand closer and gently kissed it. "You have saved me Carlos, from the British, and from Interpol. You have saved me. Anything I can do for you in return, I will."

"You do realize that you cannot go back to Britain, at least not yet. They think you are dead. If you are spotted they will assume you had something to do with the hotel killings. No I think it would be best if you stay and help me with a project I'm working on," Carlos said.

Anna nodded eagerly, she was so grateful for being rescued that Carlos could have asked her to have his babies and she would have eagerly agreed. The incident had seriously shaken her confidence.

He released her hand and gently pat it for a moment. "Rest Anna, Maria will probably keep you in bed for a week. I will visit again and we can talk more about what I'm doing."

Carlos stood and walked from the room with a satisfied smile, he knew Anna would come to the conclusion he wanted. He wanted her unwavering loyalty and knew she would give it and more. To his own surprise he found himself looking forward to the moment when she was fully healed and he could enjoy her considerable talents again.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, November 5th 2001...**

"And now I would like to hear from General Sukov. You all know of General Sukov, he commands the Fourth North Air District and will very likely succeed Marshal Benoy as Supreme Air Commander of the Moscow District next year," the president of the committee said softly.

Seeing the other members agreeing he pressed a button on the table and said, "Send General Sukov in," he commanded.

The door opened and a man stepped in and stood at attention. "General Sukov reporting as ordered Mr. President."

The general had been told that he would be addressing a special committee of top officials including the President of the country. As far as he knew, this was all approved by the government. He had no clue that these men ruled his so called 'democratic' country from behind the scenes.

"General, we would like to first hear your thoughts regarding the recent western military movements. I know you've recently seen new data on that subject," ordered the President.

"This is not normally my area of expertise, but I have been asked by the academy to review their intelligence data on their new president. The truth is that the American response to this attack on their city has caught many of us by surprise," the General offered.

"Oh? In what way?" asked the Minister of Finance.

"Their response is excessively timid. The new American president was supposedly a hawk, or at least we thought him so. It was the consensus of the general staff was that the Americans would threaten to employ a tactical nuclear weapon against Afghanistan as a way of forcing those barbarians to turn over the terrorists. The current move to build a coalition like they did in 1992 is badly thought out," the General replied.

"Now we are certain they will become embroiled in a guerrilla war like Vietnam or our own experience in Afghanistan. They are adopting a poorly thought out response that will not succeed. In the end their enemies will simply hide deeper in new holes while the Americans burn themselves out in conflicts they can't win. There is also word from some of our sources in Washington that Iraq might be targeted."

"Makes sense," Finance mumbled. "He would want revenge for what Saddam tried to do to his father."

"Foolish," muttered Danakov. "Saddam is a stabilizing influence in the region. Removing him will destabilize many countries and leave a power vacuum, who knows what will happen then. This American president is being foolish, he is leading with his emotions, he should forget about what Saddam did and concentrate on the terrorists. Very foolish."

"I would have recommended a nuclear option if it had happened to us," the Defense Minister stated bluntly.

It was clear that many of the old men sitting around the table would have agreed to the Defense Minister's proposal. The numbers from the multiple terrorist attacked in America were firm, America had entered World War II with a smaller death toll from the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, now they waffled and talked of half measures.

"In addition to the troop movements we are seeing, there has been little other impact on the American Military complex," General Sukov added. "No noticeable increase in military production, no attempts to substantially increase their fighting forces. On the other hand, there have been some incidents, their military is not well trained for the insurgency they will encounter in Afghanistan and they know it. As a result of this we expect they will wage a campaign in which enemy combatants and civilians will suffer equally."

Several of the men around the table grimaced, the old Soviet Union had a similar problem during their Afghanistan years and to their regret their complacency in regard to civilian injuries helped cost them the war.

"What of the claims of chemical weapons in Iraq?" asked the President.

"The western governments talk big, but their claims have little substance," replied Sukov. "Our analysts figured out five years ago that Saddam Hussein had expended most of his chemical stockpile in his war with Iran and in the actions against the Kurds. What few meager scraps remain probably are no longer even usable. There are no indications that he has any other sort of weapon of mass destruction and he lacks the infrastructure to manufacture more. I have spoken with several others among the General staff and no one thinks Iraq has any significant weaponry remaining. Certainly not enough to make any difference against a modern motorized assault."

"Thank you for your thoughts General," replied the President. "Now tell us about the exercises along our northern border to learn more about the dragons."

Sukov nodded, "Four North Air District received orders to obtain intelligence data on the dragon facility just over the Finnish border. I ordered a mission which required refitting one of our reconnaissance aircraft. The mission was largely uneventful and little intelligence was obtained. Our aircraft encountered several Finnish Air Force aircraft during the flight. That particular event turned out to contain the one nugget of useful information."

Sukov opened a file folder and extracted a large photograph which he handed to the president. "That photo came from our first mission along the border. The idea was a simple one, we needed to gather intelligence on the dragon installation that is adjacent to the civilian air field called Joensuu in Finland."

"The mission turned out to be most frustrating. I can say for a fact now dragons do not show up on any radar system we employ. In fact, that photo is proof of that. We carefully examined the radar tapes when we found that photo and there were no traces of any dragons detectable."

The president passed the photo to Danakov who sat on his right. He glanced at it briefly noting the pair of F18 Hornets in the foreground. A red arrow pointed to a pair of dots behind those aircraft and a line led to an inserted enlargement on the photo that showed a grainy enlarged image of two dragons in flight.

"When the Finnish air force arrived, the air crews started taking photographs of the planes. This is standard procedure to take the photographs which are then sent for analysis. The aircrew took over two thousand photos using new digital cameras with removable memory chips. It wasn't until a week had passed before this particular photo was found by our people. The dragons are roughly twenty miles distant from the aircraft in the foreground. We don't know why they were in the area, but this proves that they are invisible to radar."

One of the old men, the minister for transportation leaned forward in his chair and looked puzzled. "I do not understand why this is important."

"Anatoliy, this is important because a large percentage of our air to air missiles are radar guided," the Defense Minister explained.

Sukov nodded in agreement then he said, "The Defense Minister is correct. In an aerial fight our aircraft would be at a disadvantage. Heat seeking missiles are less reliable than radar guided missiles, and are more easily countered. We have few long range heat seekers, and more radar guided. Our missiles were designed to shoot down American or NATO planes, not dragons."

Sukov paused and nervously wiped his brow. He knew what he was about to say could result in the end of his career, or boost it enormously.

"Am I correct in assuming that your interest in these beasts are more than just academic?"

The President of the council looked up sharply. "What gave you that idea General?" he asked hotly.

Sukov shrugged slightly, "There were several indications that this was more than just idle information gathering. That no one countermanded my order for the guard aircraft to be fully armed. Or that the reconnaissance aircraft had to be retrofitted with expensive modern data recorders before the mission could start. And then the rush on analysis from the Ministry; it wasn't hard to infer that someone was interested and that interest wasn't just academic."

"And what does this suggest to you General?" asked the Defense Minister curiously.

"You are looking for vulnerabilities among the dragons. Someday soon we may end up in conflict with the dragons. I think that given enough time, certainly two years or more, we may improve on our missile seeker electronics to compensate for dragons as targets. But we need more information and we aren't going to get it by flying along the border. We need people on the ground to develop the intelligence needed by our engineers," the General replied cautiously.

Several of the men around the table looked shocked that their intentions were so easily read. The president leaned forward and scanned a paper in front of him for a moment then he looked up at Sukov. "General Sukov, your second in command for Fourth North Air District is Lieutenant General Hasaverich?"

"Yes sir," Sukov said. A feeling of dread flooded his body and he wondered if they were about to go back to the old ways of shooting someone without making a major fuss over it.

"When you return to your headquarters you will inform Hasaverich that he will assume command of Four North. You will then report to Moscow Military district to assume command there. One of your primary tasks will be to ensure that our technology is capable of dealing with dragons, should the need arise," the President said.

The Defense Minister nodded in approval and Sukov snapped to attention. "Sir, yes sir!"

Sukov snapped off a salute and the President nodded in reply, then he waited until the General had left the room.

"So, at least now we know we have time before we can act. The question is, how much time can we afford?"

"I might be able to shed some light on that," offered the Finance Minister. "I have been looking at the projections of revenue from our natural gas and oil sales. If the rate of loss remains constant my people believe that it will be at least eight more years before we start seeing significant impact on our economy although there will be localized impacts in as few as three years. Currently we are seeing a little less than one point six percent income loss, but part of that loss has been softened by lowering our prices. Some countries took advantage of the price drop to increase their reserves."

"So three or four years at the earliest then?" mused the president, he turned in his chair and posed a question to his Minister of Internal Security.

"Mishka, what about your efforts to slow these facilities?"

Mishka Danakov opened a folder. "We were attacking European sites directly, but had been forced to stop that effort. Instead we're trying to sabotage other areas. We have been rather successful in locating groups that feel threatened by dragons and are willing to resort to sabotage for us. Of course we have taken pains to never admit that the entity backing these groups is part of the Russian government."

"Sabotage in other areas? How so?" asked the Defense Minister.

Danakov sipped at his coffee and eyed the Minister for a moment. "These power plants require a lot of machinery from hundreds of sources. Delays in delivering those machines results in delays at the building sites. Since the dragons captured a group that was funded and equipped with our help, it was felt that we needed to back off slightly and slow the construction in a manner that is harder to protect."

The Defense Minister frowned. "But that only slows the construction, not halts it," he complained.

Danakov frowned. "My friends, I thought it was apparent that we could only slow construction? We can do little about China who are building six plants concurrently. The Americans will boost security around their sites following this terrorist attack and Europe will likely also increase security. We must be honest with ourselves. We never really expected to be able to halt construction, the only realistic thing we can expect is that we can slow construction, but not halt it."

"Mishka you need not defend your actions," the president said. "We knew from the outset that we could only delay things until conditions were more favorable for us to take a more active role."

Defense winced and leaned back on his chair unhappy with the unspoken rebuke by the President of the council.

Danakov nodded in satisfaction and carefully suppressed the smile that threatened to break out. He controlled the President of the council using magic. The man had been Prime Minister of Russia, but recently moved into the Presidential position and allowed someone he controlled to be elected Prime Minister.

To the outside world he seemed to be the one in charge in Russia despite holding a titular position that held little authority. Danakov knew better, he controlled the man that held the power. It was a position he enjoyed immensely and never once suspected that he could lose control. For now his position was secure but it was becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile ICW policies with official Russian policy. Sooner or later Russia would have to break from the ICW.

**Remus Lupin's office, Campbeltown Weyr, November 20th, 2001...**

Remus looked up when he heard a knock at his door.

"Remus do you have a minute?" Lord Mills asked.

"James! Come on in and sit down, how are things?" Remus asked.

James sat in a chair across from Remus' desk and eyed him for a moment. "You look great."

Remus smiled. "I can't tell if its the fact that I am Lycanthropy free, or the fact that I'm married to a wonderful woman."

Remus' wedding to Mildred O'Conner, the American scientist had been planned as a low key event. Supposedly he was to accompany her to her home town in Kansas where they would be wed. What happened instead was an impromptu fair as nearly all of the Campbeltown riders and their dragons showed up to see their Weyr Historian get married.

Campbeltown first jumped to Chicago's O'Hare airport to process passports, then went on to Kansas. Three days after the British invasion the head of the Chicago airport announced his retirement citing a wish to take up fishing far away from the bustle of a major airport and five hundred dragons appearing with no notice.

The small town of Schoenchen Kansas found itself knee deep with dragons and once the townspeople understood the reason for the dragon invasion, they used it as an excuse to hold an outdoor town-wide party.

The wedding ceremony had been quickly relocated to the church parking lot to accommodate everyone and while Remus and Mildred slipped away for their honeymoon, most of the Weyr stayed on to celebrate the happy couple's wedding.

As far as his Lycanthropy was concerned, the doctors were extremely reluctant to call Remus cured. He was officially in remission and was required to undergo a blood test every six months. He hadn't had a single transformation or even a bad mood at a full moon in years, but the doctors were trying to be cautious.

James nodded, he knew exactly what Remus meant, his wife had been his rock during his crazy navy years. He still missed her. "Remus, the reason I came to see you is the PM brought up an issue which is starting to see more and more press around the world. I wanted to talk to you about it before bringing it to Harry's attention."

Remus' expression fell. "Something bad then?"

James shrugged. "Something not good. Whether it's bad or not depends I guess on the Weyr's reaction to it."

James held up a video tape which he had been carrying. "Let me pop this into your player and you can see it for yourself."

Remus nodded and gestured to the machine in the corner of his office. Like so many other offices in the Weyr, he had a small combination Television/VCR unit at his disposal.

The screen flared to life and Remus frowned as he watched the three minute clip. When it was complete James shut the machine off. "That as you probably could tell, came from America. They call them televangelists which is basically a fancy name for a preacher that uses television to reach beyond his local congregation."

Remus nodded, the man had only spent three minutes on the topic of dragons, but it was putting things in the worst possible light. Remus stared at the blank screen for a moment, then he turned to James. "How many people hear this stuff? What I mean is, how many will take it seriously?"

James shrugged. "We don't have details on his ministry, but he's not the only televangelist to have taken up this theme. Harry decided the Weyrs weren't going to hide their relationships and to some it's highly offensive," James said, then he paused and looked thoughtful, "Although I suspect part of this is due to the rampant homophobia that seems to infect all of the western nations to some degree. Face it Remus, even what Harry, Hermione and May have smacks of some same gender sex to an outsider."

"Yes, in the absence of facts, rumor and innuendo can do a lot of damage," Remus replied with a sigh, then he reached for his phone and dialed a number. "Harry? It's Remus. James is here in my office and he's brought to light some concerns that have troubling implications if we do nothing."

Remus listened for a moment, then he said, "All right, I'll tell him." He placed the phone back on the cradle and turned to James. "Harry will be here in a few minutes."

James smiled and leaned back in his chair. "So how is Mildred taking things?"

Remus grinned. "Oh well, you know her, give her a dark place to set up her telescope and she's happy. She wasn't too happy being so far from her parents and family, but Momnarth and Dronth both promised to take her home anytime she needed to go. Harry sweetened the deal by offering to install a custom made telescope at Minnewanka Weyr and you know where that went."

James chuckled, "Yes I know, she's now teaching astronomy to a large group of riders. And while still under construction, Minnewanka Weyr is going to host the world first dragon sponsored professional observatory."

It wouldn't be a huge telescope like the one in Hawaii, but it would be a very capable machine. When Harry gave Mildred a budget and told her to order a telescope she was ecstatic over the opportunity. She had rushed out to commission the construction of a telescope that would take a full year to make before it could be delivered. In the meantime Minnewanka would make due with a few off the shelf machines.

Remus and Sirius were among the few non-riders that were privy to Weyr secrets. As such Remus knew that the observatory would eventually tie in with Ronan's design group. He hadn't told Mildred about that aspect of it yet, but only because Harry was still being very cautious about it and asked him not to reveal it to Mildred yet.

"And there's been talks with the Governors at Cambridge to give those taking her class official credit. They are very interested because it gives them access to an observatory plus Harry's willing to let some of their students and faculty have access to it," Remus added proudly. "Mildred is qualified to teach university, after all, she was part of UC San Diego before going to work for NASA. She gave up her citizenship as you know. I was rather surprised at how easily she gave it up. We anticipate that Cambridge will pick up the courses and accredit them with no problem."

James smiled, the PM's office had been involved with those talks and he knew it was likely that Cambridge University would add Mildred to their list of accomplished staff. The university was eager to get access to a world class telescope and adding student riders to their rolls was a small price to pay.

"She gave up her citizenship for you Remus. I think that you both compliment each other," James added quietly. James had been the person that brought the news to the PM's office about Mildred's desire to remain here in the UK. The PM had been most helpful in securing her the proper visas and paving the way for her to obtain citizenship.

Remus nodded soberly. "I know she did," he replied and shook his head. His wedding to Mildred O'Connor was supposed to be low key compared to the celebrations that surrounded some of the other Weyr weddings. And it was low key, for about ten minutes, then the dragons heard of their plans and decided it was cause for celebration. Remus was the only Weyr Historian in the world, and Mildred was quickly becoming a popular tutor in math and science for those needing help with their classes. Plus she was still hoping to find Pern someday.

The idea that a planet existed that could accept humans living on it without modifications was a great temptation to the astronomer. It excited her imagination and fueled her desire to find it.

When they returned from the honeymoon that Sirius and Harry had bought the couple, their house had been renovated from top to bottom by the house elves. Dobby had even thought to include a small building in the yard with a retractable roof for Mildred's personal telescope.

Remus smiled to himself, his life had taken a huge turn around since Harry impressed Chekiath and he had to be honest, it was all thanks to Harry.

Harry appeared a few minutes later and listened patiently while James and Remus walked in through the problem that was brewing. He sat silently for several minutes after they had finished then he stood and walked over to a window.

"George Bernard Shaw once said 'Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance.'," he said softly while staring out the window. He went still for a moment and the other two men recognize his pose, he was talking to another dragon. After a minute he turned back to Remus and James. "I didn't really comprehend that statement until now," he added ruefully. "I had thought that we should just ignore the topic of relationships, but I see now that is a mistake. Without proper knowledge people are willing to believe anything they hear."

The door opened and Lee stuck his head into the room. "You wanted to see me Harry? Sinnath said it sounded important."

Harry nodded and waved him into the office. "Thank you for coming so quickly Lee. I have a question to put to you."

"Okay."

"Do you know any BBC reporter that you trust to give us a fair reporting?"

"Harry, that's not fair, the BBC has done the Weyr right," protested James.

"I know James, I just want a reporter that will be initially sympathetic to dragons. Even you have to admit some of their reporters are terrified of dragons," Harry countered.

James reluctantly nodded, it was true, some of the people had been afraid of the huge dragons. Despite their gentle nature, they were predators with alarming rows of teeth and the ability to breath fire. Some people had trouble getting around their size and teeth.

"Harry, you're going to go public?" exclaimed Remus.

Harry smirked. "We are, but not quite in the way you think," he said, then he gestured to the VCR that still contained the tape. "That tape represents a small but very vocal segment of the American public. The only way to counter that sort of disinformation is to provide our own version of the truth. We will tell the truth, but from a different perspective than anyone thinks," Harry replied, then he turned back to Lee. "Well? Do you know someone?"

Lee nodded. "Barbara Knowles, she is very friendly with the riders and the dragons. Dronth identified her as being someone that could have been a rider when she was younger. I had Remus add her family name to our search list because she has an eight year old daughter."

Harry nodded knowingly, they were stumbling across potential riders all the time who were past the age of impressing. They were also finding out that such people tended to have children that could impress. Their first inkling of that came from one of the granddaughters of the Japanese Empress. The Empress could have been a rider, and she passed that trait down to one of her grandchildren. The had privately approached the Imperial family and told them about the child, then said that they would do nothing about it with His Majesty's permission. The Japanese emperor had not made a decision and the Weyr wasn't about to press for one. They had years still to go before the girl would be old enough to be presented on the Hatching grounds.

"I remember her, a blond woman who's camera crew nearly had to force her back into their lorry to return to their office," he said with a smile.

"That's her," Lee replied with a laugh.

Harry moved away from the window and sat down in a chair. "We'll need you, Mariah and little Rosalee. And I'll ask Millicent, Bob and Sammy to attend as well," he said thoughtfully.

"And Hermione and May?" asked Lee in surprise.

Harry smirked, "Are you kidding? Once they hear we're going to explain our relationships they will insist on being there. This issue impacts us all, even the couples."

Remus leaned forward on his chair and looked at Harry intently. "Harry, by opening ourselves up to this kind of discussion we will attract more bad publicity from people like that," he said with a gesture towards the blank TV screen.

"We'll never change the minds of bigoted people like that," Harry snapped and gestured towards the TV screen. "Narrow minded bigotry is unmoved even in the presence of hard facts. Just look at the people who still think the Earth is 6000 years old. I'm not even going to attempt to change their minds, but they are thankfully a minority. I want to reach the other people, the people that are willing to hear the facts and understand the implications."

Harry sighed and shook his head and continued in a softer voice. "Remus, people need to understand. Lee and Mariah do not have a regular relationship despite there being just one man and one woman involved. Millie, Bob and Sammy, or what I have aren't normal either. It all boils down to the dragons and we need to make people understand that what we have may not include inter-species mating, but for all intents and purposes, it is a relationship that involves another being that isn't human."

Remus looked back with a thoughtful expression while James watched intently. Harry turned towards James with a sour expression on his face. "James, I understand the difficult position your government is currently in, what with the build up in the middle east and all, and I certainly don't want to add to that, however going public is the only way we can fight this."

"I'm sure we'll manage Harry," James said. "I already warned the PM that you might decide to go public."

Harry frowned slightly for a moment, he didn't like the idea that someone could so accurately predict his response to this problem. It was something he would need to think about.

**Campbeltown Weyr, Hangar 2, November 25th 2001...**

Harry looked at the harness that Ronan held out for his inspection. He examined it carefully then looked at Ronan, "This still requires the victim to put it on by himself?"

Ronan was showing Harry a new invention from his design group, an electric winch that a dragon could control using a special glove on one paw. With the position of the winch being below the rider and out of his line of sight it was felt that the dragon should control the winch rather than the rider.

Right now the harness was a copy of what the Coast Guard units around the world were using to rescue people in the water, a harness attached to a steel cable. The harness required either someone in the water to put it on the victim or for the victim to be conscious and capable of putting it themselves.

Ronan frowned. "Yeah I know, but short of using a net and scooping up someone in the water, I don't know what else we can do. The Coast Guard has trained rescue divers, we don't."

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Lee standing with blond woman who was smiling tentatively at him. Harry held up a hand to Lee and turned back to Ronan. "This is a good first start Ronan, but let's meet later and see if we can't come up with something that doesn't require the person to be capable of putting that harness on. Sooner or later you are going to have an unconscious victim. Maybe a net is the way to go even if it isn't exactly comfortable or heroic to be scooped up like a fish. Don't forget that our dragons have a greater control of their flight than most rescue helicopters."

Ronan nodded grimly, short of a net, he couldn't see what would solve that particular problem.

Harry turned back to Lee. "Sorry about that," he said.

"May I ask what that was all about?" asked the woman.

Lee grinned, "Weyrleader, this is Barbara Knowles, the reporter I told you about."

Harry extended his hand and Knowles blinked for a second, then shook it. It took Lee using his title before she recalled she was dealing with a head of state and not just some young man.

"That? Our design group has been working on the problem of rescuing people at sea, last month the Weyr helped out when two ships sank, one with most of her passengers and crew, we got called in very late to that one," Harry replied with a slight frown.

"In calm seas rescue is easy, but in rough seas it's dangerous for the riders and the dragons. A rider can easily become unseated and end up swimming himself. We're looking into developing technology that can make it easier for us to rescue people at sea, safely for the victim and for the dragon," Harry replied. This was the kind of thing he wanted the Weyr to be known for so he didn't mind sharing such information.

"We put together a small informal group that are addressing this and other issues around the Weyr. One of the things they came up with is an electric winch that the dragon can control using a glove fitted to their paw," Harry said.

The reporter nodded and everyone present knew she was filing the information away, probably hoping to use it at some point. "Lee told me that you want to talk about relationships?" she said, sounding a bit dubious.

Harry nodded and motioned for her to walk with him. "Your office Lee?"

"No, everyone is assembled in the main conference room, even the film crew, Barbara and I came to get you," Lee said with a grin.

Harry shook his head ruefully. "To be honest it slipped my mind that we were meeting today. My secretary usually reminds me, but she's away visiting family today. Her mother is dying of cancer."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Barbara replied.

Harry shrugged, "It is a fact of life I'm afraid. As much as it might seem that personal tragedy can stop the world it doesn't and the world is filled with such personal tragedies."

Barbara looked at him askew for a moment. She hadn't expected such a viewpoint from someone ten years younger than herself.

"Did Lee explain why we asked you here today?"

"I really didn't get much of a chance Harry. I asked Barbara to come up here so we could talk about relationships in the Weyr, but I didn't go into any detail," Lee admitted.

Harry stopped and held the door to the administration building open for them. "It's all right Lee, we'll cover it inside."

"Lee said you wanted to explain about relationships here in the Weyr," Barbara offered hesitantly.

Harry nodded. "I want to correct some misconceptions that are arising, both here and abroad. Relationships are just a small part of the issue."

A few short minutes later they were seated in the main conference room. Lee had chosen that location because of the number of people he was asking to be present. Lee's office was nearly as big as Harry's, but it still wouldn't have been comfortable with so many people present.

Mariah sat off in one corner, holding little Rosalee protectively, of all those present she was perhaps the most apprehensive person present.

Harry motioned to Ms. Knowles to sit, then he turned to the camera and sound man. "Can you turn those machines off for a few minutes? Please?"

Both men looked at Barbara who nodded with a dubious expression. Harry smiled in relief and turned back to Barbara. "I asked them to turn their recordings off because I want to explain something and I know that this is going to be personal and probably offensive to some people. Your job will be to figure out how to present that information in a way that doesn't offend."

Barbara nodded, her reporters curiosity now highly interested.

"Mrs. Knowles," Harry said.

"Miss, I'm divorced now, Knowles is my maiden name."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, let's try this again. Miss Knowles, what would you consider to be one of the most fundamental requirements of human psychology?"

She blinked at him and shook her head, it wasn't a question she expected.

Harry smiled. "Let's try it from this angle, when you were first married, I assume you had a good relationship with your husband?"

"Yes," she replied slowly.

"And your intimate life?"

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione. His head turned towards her and her mouth snapped close at his glare. This was the Weyrleader she was dealing with, not her fiancée.

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Knowles said in a frosty tone.

Harry turned back to Knowles, "Of course and I apologize for seeming to pry, but you do have a right to your privacy."

Mollified Knowles leaned back in her chair and motioned for him to continue.

"Privacy Miss Knowles," he said, then he tapped his head with a finger. "Even at your most intimate moments with your husband, the thoughts that went through your head were totally private. Your husband only got to see what you were willing to share, wouldn't you agree thats true?"

"It is an odd way of putting it, but yes I can understand that," Knowles admitted slowly, it was an odd concept that she hadn't considered before.

Harry gestured towards the large window where Chekiath and several other dragons could be seen sitting on the road and watching through the window. "Privacy is something that we riders give up forever when we impress our dragons. Imagine that for a moment, your most intimate thoughts and moments are shared between you and your dragon. And believe me when I say dragons are almost obsessively curious about their riders."

Knowles stared at him, not quite understanding.

Harry frowned, he could see she wasn't quite making the connections he wanted her to make. He sighed and jumped into the deep end of the pool. "Take for example a very human behavior that everyone does during their lifetime even if we don't talk about it. Masturbation."

Several in the room gasped in understanding as they realized the point that Harry was trying to drive home.

Harry's ears turned red, it was the only sign that he was embarrassed by the topic. "Most people prefer to be alone during such activity. It's private and not something they usually share, even with people that know them the best. A dragon rider doesn't have that option, there is no way to turn off the bond they share with their dragon, no way to ensure privacy. And to make it worse since dragons can't masturbate, they want to know exactly what we're doing and why, which leads to some very difficult conversations Miss Knowles. Consider the level of intimacy involved here for a moment. Imagine that when you married your former husband if you suddenly and permanently shared a link to his mind. There's no walking away from being a rider, ever. Nor would any rider want to walk away.

"Privacy is something that we lose forever. When we make love with our partners, our partners include our dragons. They are there, with us, in our minds, twenty four hours a day. Comaloth is Hermione's dragon, but she's also an integral part of Hermione. There's no separating the two. I love and care about Comaloth because she's so important to Hermione. In a strange way, she _is_ Hermione in dragon form just like Hermione is Comaloth in human form."

"Something in us changes," Mariah said softly.

Harry glanced over towards her and gestured for her keep talking, this was the reason why he invited them to this meeting.

"When I impressed, something inside me changed forever. I love Lee and our daughter very much, but I also love Buth just as strongly. She's a part of me just like Rosalee is a part of Lee and I. It's that close of a connection," Mariah said, then she pulled Rosalee closer to her and cuddled with the infant. "I knew when I married Lee that I was also marrying his dragon. When my husband and I make love, our dragons are there in our minds, enjoying the intimacy and closeness, ever knowing they are a part of our family, inseparable and unbreakble.

"Dragons do not care for their children like we do, but they understand the need for us to care for our children. A newborn dragon can already speak and communicate with his rider; within two years they are mature and ready to mate unlike our young.

"Buth and Sinnath love Rosalee as much as Lee and I do. Buth watches out for her as much as I do. In a way Rosalee has two sets of parents, human and dragon."

"They are always there," Lee added. "Always. I quickly realized that they took as much pleasure from our intimacy as we did and I have no doubt that we could do the same if we tried."

"_You haven't tried,"_ complained Sinnath. _"But we understand it is something new to you. It was only in that first flight that you experienced our needs so keenly."_

Lee grimaced slightly and glanced out the window towards his dragon. "I know mate, but we'll talk about that later okay?"

"_Of course,"_ replied Sinnath.

Lee turned back to Harry and shrugged. The riders knew what Sinnath was talking about and were glad that they didn't suffer that loss of control anymore. Unknown to Harry, every rider considered the possibilities offered in Sinnath's comment.

"Lee and Mariah have been married only about a year," Harry added. "From the outside it looks like a regular relationship until you realize that it's four adults and one infant in that family. Four adults, even if two of them happen to be dragons," Harry added.

Knowles sat silently for a moment, looking at Lee and Mariah. "So your dragons are what? Co-husband and co-wife?"

Lee chuckled, "No or at least not completely, but they are here," he said and tapped his head. "Every second of the day or night. I would like to think that the dragons didn't influence our choices, but I know they do. The dragons seem to know instinctively what will make their rider happy, so they nudge, and sometimes nag us to go in that direction."

Harry stood and walked over to stand behind Lee and Mariah. "Two adult humans, two adult dragons and one human infant make up this family. Here in the Weyr we think that little Rosalee has four parents," he said with a smile, then he walked over to where Millicent Bulstrode sat with Bob Malwich and Sammy Hinnerman.

"Millicent, Bob and Sammy have a different kind of relationship than Lee and Mariah, but instead of three adults, its six adults. The dragons knew their riders would be happy before the riders themselves understood. The dragons know us better than we know ourselves."

"Honestly, I thought I was one hundred percent gay," admitted Sammy Hinerman, then he blushed and looked down. Millicent reached for one hand while Bob Malwich grabbed his other hand. Sammy took a deep breath and looked up again. "Pandoth knew me better than I knew myself. He told me that Milli and Bob would make me happy and when the time came, Milli would give us a family."

Millicent glanced towards Mariah and Rosalee with longing and muttered, "Perhaps sooner than we thought, but first I want to finish school."

"So let me get this straight," Knowles said. "You thought you were gay and now you're married to..."

"Not married," Harry interrupted. "I wish we could, I wish there was a way. But the law will not allow Millicent to have two husbands or me to have two wives. The law is short sighted because it fails to recognize that what we have is six people, three human and three dragon, that are connected far more profoundly than any simple man made marriage ceremony."

Harry shrugged and it was obvious that he was frustrated with the situation. "I intend to share a spiritual ceremony with my fiancées after they graduate from university. But in my mind we're already married even if it isn't legal."

"My god," Knowles said softly. "This is incredible, your pairings are that heavily influenced by the dragons?"

Harry frowned. "Not quite. Chekiath knew that I was attracted to two very specific girls. He was equally attracted to their dragons. Despite that attraction, I am certain he would not have tried to convince us to get together if he knew I would have been unhappy."

"_Of course I wouldn't Harry,"_ Chekiath said from the street outside of the conference room. _"Your happiness is very important to me. Trath and Comaloth became my consorts only because I knew that Hermione and May would be perfect consorts for you."_

Cheki's words lingered in the room and Knowles' eyes widened in surprise. For a brief moment, Knowles watched as Harry's public face fell away to reveal a more emotional Harry Potter. It was an expression that only his riders and his girls had seen.

"I know mate," he said with a warm smile, "and I'm glad it worked out so well." He shot a warm look at May and Hermione who were also smiling gently back at him. Turning back to the reporter he said, "I originally had no intention of explaining this situation, but in light of certain rumors coming out of the United States, I thought it would be best to lay the facts bare. Dragons are people, but they aren't human and they do influence their riders in such a way that most humans normally wouldn't consider."

Knowles nodded slowly, "I think I understand now," she said, then she glanced around the room. "So your involvement with Miss McNulty and Miss Granger is..."

"Something that wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for the dragons. And even today there are times when we have to stop and talk about what is happening," May said firmly. "And it's not what it looks like from the outside. Hermione is my sister and I love her as I would love a sister. We share Harry between us, but Hermione and I do not have any intimate relations. We may all sleep in the same bed with Harry in the middle, but that's all we do. As far as the other triplets in the Weyr, what they do behind closed doors is their business alone. It's not our position to pry or judge them."

"It wasn't easy at all in the beginning. May and I had to set up rules before hand, and then Harry imposed his own set of rules. Contrary to appearances we have had to work very hard to make it succeed," added Hermione. "And on top of that dragon psychology plays an important role in our family unit. Chekiath has two consorts, but that doesn't stop him from having recreational mating flights with other female dragons. It took months of explaining to him before he accepted that Harry, as the human male in our group, wasn't going to emulate his behavior. Our dragon friends are every bit as intelligent as we are, but for all that, they have stronger instincts than we do and are less likely to ignore those instincts."

"And all the while that they are explaining that to my dragon, these two kept threatening to make me sleep on the couch as Cheki tried to convince me to have trysts with nearly every girl he came across," Harry said with amusement.

Both girls shot him bright smiles. At the time Harry had pulled them up short and told them they couldn't threaten him for behavior he wasn't doing.

Knowles leaned back on her chair and made a few notes to a notepad. "I can see why you asked for the cameras to be turned off for this."

Harry smiled a bit sheepishly, "It's a sensitive topic and I do apologize for seeming to pry but I needed to make a point. This seemed like the quickest way to do it. Now that you know, please feel free to turn your machines back on. The Weyrs need your help Miss Knowles, we want people to understand. We want people to know the truth. We need people to understand that being a dragon rider doesn't mean just flying around. Every rider has had to face issues that someone twice their age hasn't faced. Our dragons are in our minds, always with us, even during our most intimate moments, and because of that each rider has been forced to grow beyond what they thought was normal."

Knowles nodded to her cameraman and sound man, then she turned back to Harry. "I think that what I would like to do is start by asking some questions of everyone. When we get back to the studio we'll edit the interviews and mix in commentary. I'm certain that when we're done, we'll be able to present this to the nation and the world without it offending any but the most radical types."

Harry sighed in relief and walked over to take a seat between Hermione and May. Mariah stood from her corner chair and moved to sit next to Lee. Rosalee slept quietly in her mother's arms. Knowles smiled in approval as the various family units rearranged themselves, it was in her opinion a more balanced arrangement and it would send a powerful message. Outside the large conference room window, eight dragons stood, blocking the road, watching and listening.

Knowles gestured for her cameraman to get a shot of the dragons before panning back into the room. As soon as the camera was pointing at her and Harry, the camera man signaled for her to begin. "Weyrleader, I want to thank you for this opportunity, and for the fact that you are taking time from your busy schedule. I heard about the recent hatching and we'll try to be brief so you can return to the Hatching Weyr..."

**The Old Bailey, Special Magical Court, July 2002...**

Amadeus Nott stood sullenly, his hands firmly cuffed behind his back using magic suppressing handcuffs. A bailiff stood next to him, and on the other side stood his court appointed barrister.

Nott didn't know it, but he was about to become the first person sentenced under a new law that was aimed directly at wizards.

Amadeus was the heir apparent to the Nott family. Only his mother and an older sister still survived. His older brother Teddy had been too young to join the Wizarding Defense forces, but instead had foolishly perished in a duel with an older man over a young girl that he wanted to court. The duel had been held in Hungary, one of the few European nations that still allowed honor duels. Amadeus had the dubious privilege of being Teddy's second for the duel, and the one to tell his mother that her oldest son was dead.

His mother slapped him and blamed him for the death of Teddy. Since that fateful day his life had been in a downward spiral.

The judge entered through a door by the bench and took a seat. He opened a folder and put on his reading glasses. "Amadeus Xavier Nott, having been found guilty of using harmful magic on a normal human without a justifiable reason I am ready to pass judgment. Do you have anything to say in your defense before I pass my judgment?"

"Just issue the fine and appointment and I'll be on my way," Nott replied cautiously. He knew better than to speak in any manner other than with respect to these muggle judges. The last one had cost him nearly fifteen thousand extra galleons over the usual fine.

The Notts were a well off family, but by no means rich enough that he could afford to throw away another fifteen thousand galleons.

The judge frowned at the young man and made his decision. He had seen far too many cases like this and it was time to put a real stop to it. "Young man, this is the third time you have been brought before the court for cursing a non-magical human. I'm afraid that I cannot just give you a fine and order you into court imposed counseling again."

Nott looked up in surprise. "Then what?"

The judge peered at Nott over his half reading glasses. "A few weeks ago all I would have been able to do is administer a maximum fine of fifty thousand galleons but due to changes in the law and the fact that you are a repeat offender I have a new option available to me. Mister Nott, you stand at a cross roads. The Home Office now allows me to confiscate up to ninety percent of your family assets, or you can opt for a more challenging punishment that leaves your family still capable of feeding itself. Make no mistake Mister Nott, if necessary I will bankrupt you."

Nott paled dramatically, "What's the other option?" he squeaked.

"I will place you on five years probation and issue you a ten thousand galleon fine. The terms of your probation will be enforced by a blood oath swearing that you will never raise your wand to another person, except in the case of self defense. During the first year of that probation you will attend mandatory classes on normal life and how normal people live."

Nott gulped and glanced over his shoulder to where his mother sat.

"Take the oath," she hissed angrily. She was beyond furious with him. First her eldest son gets himself killed over a stupid girl and then the now heir apparent is hitting the family's cash reserves because he doesn't like muggles. She didn't like muggles either, but she never felt the need to go out of her way to encounter any like her stupid son.

"I would listen to your mother Mister Nott," the judge said.

He slumped his shoulders and nodded in defeat. The other choice would be to become as poor as the Weasleys once were.

"You are volunteering for the oath?" pressed the judge.

"I am," Nott said, it was obvious to all that he didn't like what was being forced on him.

The judge looked around and spotted the two men he was looking for at the back of the room. "Directors Shacklebolt and Stokes, I understand that as authors of this new law requiring an oath; that one of you will be acting as the oath bonder?"

Kingsley stood. "I am willing to act as bonder for this case your honor. The MLE is training people that will be made available to the court to act as bonders for future cases."

The judge nodded and watched the process with interest. It seemed a little barbaric to insist on slicing open the convicted's palm, but the process had been explained in detail, even explaining the blood letting. The real shocker for the judge, who had never seen real magic before today, was the glow that surrounded both Shacklebolt and Nott as the bonded oath was sealed.

Satisfied that the oath was in place, Shacklebolt stepped back from Nott and turned to the bench. "The oath is sealed and verified your honor."

"Thank you director Shacklebolt," replied the Judge, then he turned his attention to Amadeus Nott. "Mister Nott I need to warn you, should you ever appear before this court again, even if its just for littering, the law demands that you will serve a term of no less than five years at Her Majesty's pleasure in a normal prison. Your wand will be snapped and you will never be allowed another wand, rendering you powerless.

"Make no mistake young man, this is your last chance to become a productive member of society. The next time you are here, society will punish you to the fullest extent allowable. Am I clear on this?"

Nott stood silently for a moment then he nodded. "Yes sir," he replied meekly. He had been shocked to his core by the forced oath and the threat of losing his wand forever.

"Good, now get out of my court," replied the judge, then he banged his gavel. "This court is adjourned. Bailiff give mister Nott his effects and see that he leaves the building."

Nott turned and walked towards the gesturing bailiff, his spirit finally broken. He would never appear in court again and the Nott family would slowly fade over time but would ultimately return to prominence as Amadeus' own child grew up in a more moderate and tolerant environment.

**Weyrleader's Office, Condron Weyr, June 2002...**

Skip hit the save button on his computer and sat back on his chair in relief. He had been working on that report for Harry for a week now and it was finally finished. The report was the direct result of nearly four months of effort on his part. Skip had spent so much time on the task that his wife had been forced to fill in for Skip in some of the roles he normally took care of.

Harry had very quietly asked him to do some research on the air forces of several nations. Only Kat, his wife, and Ronan Clark knew of the project. Skip also suspected that Harry's fiancées knew of the project, but it was considered a Weyr secret. His Weyr knew something was up, he had spent a great deal of time in his office or visiting libraries around the world.

Nearly six months earlier the Weyrleaders were talking about the fact that the Saudi Air Force had flown over a Weyr located in Kenya. Lac Logipi was alarmed by the aircraft and immediately called for help from Campbeltown. The Weyr arrived within minutes. Over one thousand dragons appeared in the skies over the small unmanned Weyr and their very presence chased off the planes. Harry had contacted the Kenyan ambassador to Britain asking about the planes and that started an international incident.

Kenya knew they had a Weyr within their territory, and they knew that Harry wanted to find another place for the dragons to call home before turning it into a manned Weyr. There were several viable places within their borders that were closer to fresh water and civilization but no decision had been made as yet and no one was really in any hurry to make one. Meanwhile Lac Logipi enjoyed the personal interest and protection of The Weyrleader.

When asked the Saudis claimed they were running an exercise, but Kenya said they knew of no such exercise with their air force. The incident caused considerable tension between the two nations and increased concern among the Weyrleaders. The Saudis never managed to locate the Weyr's exact position, but they had a good idea of the general region now.

Skip volunteered to examine the capabilities of modern combat aircraft and start putting together plans for dealing with them should it become necessary.

"This will teach me to never volunteer," he muttered out loud.

"It could be worse sweetheart," Kat said from the doorway. "Do you have a minute?"

Skip looked up and noted she had two people with her. He quickly closed out his word processor. "Yes, I'm finished, come on in."

"Skip, this is Colonel Peters, he is replacing Captain Wilson as head of the security detail guarding the Weyr," Kat said softly.

Skip glanced over at her and she nodded slightly. She knew what he was thinking, the guard force for the Weyr was far too small to require a colonel in charge.

Skip stood and walked around his desk and held out his hand to Wilson. "We're going to miss you Jim, when is your last day? If possible I think we'd like to hold a dinner in your honor."

"The Captain has been transferred to an outfit that will be shipping overseas this Friday," Peters said.

Wilson nodded, but he didn't look happy.

Skip smiled, "Well come to the mess hall tonight, I'm sure we can whip up something special for your send off."

Wilson nodded and stepped back. Skip turned towards Peters, "Welcome to Condron Weyr Colonel, it's dry and hot and so far, mostly very boring."

Skip and the Colonel shook hands and spoke for a few more minutes before the Colonel cited business regarding the change of command and both marines left his office.

"Skip," Kat said softly. Relations between the US and the Weyr were cordially cool at the moment. Jasper had been working overtime trying to ease tensions and had worked wonders by involving the Weyr in local government efforts. No matter what Jasper tried, at the federal level, there was a level of suspicion between the Weyr and the government.

"I know, I know. Something is not right, but neither you or I have any military experience. I don't know if it's normal for a colonel to command a small force like we have here. Campbeltown uses a major for a similar size force and I'm told she's a major only because of something Harry did. I don't like this, Wilson was solidly on our side. This Peters seems less friendly and a lot more ominous. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but this makes me uneasy. Put a dragon near the Security office with instructions to listen to the conversations, maybe we can pick up some information," Skip replied.

"You know there are charms that will do the same thing?" Kat said with a smile.

Skip stepped closer to his wife and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I know there are, but Harry's right about one thing. Most of our riders aren't magical and we need to rely on techniques that all of us can use. A dragon can listen in just as easily as a charm."

Kat nodded. Skip didn't mind her using magic in their home. In fact she knew dozens of household charms which enabled her to clean the house in about five minutes. He didn't begrudge her when it was her turn to clean, even if it still took him hours when it was his turn. Harry had set an example and even if he didn't realize it, all of the Weyrleaders were working hard to live up to that example.

Skip stood and walked over to his window and gazed outwards. Kat moved to stand behind him. "You're worried aren't you?"

He turned and smiled at her. "I think I'm starting to understand Harry better now than ever before. Ever since the incident with Jared I've been cautious and suspicious. I don't like it, I hate suspecting people, but all of our dragons and our riders rely on us to protect them."

He pulled Kat into a gentle embrace and she molded herself against him. "I couldn't do this without you Kat," he whispered. "To our riders I have to appear tough and confident, only you know the truth."

"I know you," she replied in agreement. "Both May and Hermione told me it would be like this, that I would see a side of you that you would never show to the outside world and it only makes me love you that much more. You shouldn't doubt yourself too much Skip, together we'll get the Weyr through any crisis that pops up."

Skip leaned down and kissed the top of her head, then held her tightly against him. He knew she was right. They were a team that complemented each other. Kat was methodical and meticulous in her planning. She was adept at long range planning, whereas Skip seemed to be able to instinctively handle problems as they arose. For the most part they rarely needed advice from Harry on Weyr issues unless they involved relations with their host government.

"Will you contact Harry about this?" Kat asked.

Skip frowned, then shook his head. "No, I think I'll just include it in our monthly status report, after all Peters might loosen up once we get to know him and maybe I'm just seeing problems where there aren't any."

Kat's hands slid lower down his back and gently gripped his cheeks. "Maybe we can sneak out early from Jim's party?" she said suggestively.

He chuckled at her question. "My witch," he said softly. "For you anything."

**Near Kiev, the Ukraine, September 2002...**

Anna was terribly bored. Until yesterday she had fully recovered from her injuries and was living in a villa with Carlos. Ordinarily that wouldn't have bothered her, but they had been doing absolutely nothing since she had been released from Maria's care.

To be honest, her recovery had been long and difficult. Even with magical healing she had been bed ridden for nearly three weeks, and then spent nearly six more months slowly recovering. During that time Carlos would sometimes vanish for a week here and there, but she could tell the long period of inactivity was starting to get on his nerves as well.

Carlos hadn't confided in her that his employers were reluctant to make use of his services now that so many law enforcement agencies were actively seeking him out.

The one thing that surprised Anna the most was that Carlos had made no demands on her. He hadn't asked to have sex with her at all, and that seemed out of character for Carlos. It was during one of Maria's last visits to the villa that the old woman explained that Carlos had a great deal of respect for someone recovering from an illness. Maria couldn't be too specific, but she hinted around that someone in Carlos' past had died due to being pushed too hard during a recovery period.

Now with the pain of her injuries a dim memory and her old strength returned, the inactivity was chaffing.

That ended suddenly when Carlos announced they would be taking a trip. Surprisingly they used entirely muggle methods and had flown to the Ukraine. There they sat in the terminal for several hours before finding themselves sitting in this car for even more hours while a driver supplied by their hosts took them to an unknown location near Kiev in the Ukraine. The route taken seemed to be designed to spot and lose anyone following them, and add an extra hundred miles to their journey.

Anna was dozing when the car made a turn off of the poorly graded road onto an even poorer dirt road. The jolting brought her to full wakefulness.

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

Carlos glanced down at a map he had been given which marked their final location. "Soon I think," he muttered. He was feeling very out of control at this point and it wasn't something he was used to. Unfortunately his Spanish masters had grown timid about using his services, thanks in part to efforts of the ICW to curb their excesses. The Spanish realized that Carlos was becoming an embarrassment to the Ministry.

Carlos knew that the time had come for him to leave government service before they attempted to do something rash.

Fifteen minutes later the car passed through a gate and pulled up in front of a large wood villa nestled on a hillside overlooking a large lake. Carlos slowly stepped out of the car and glanced around, it was obvious this was no rich man's retreat. While the villa looked luxurious, there were a number of other buildings nearby which seemed almost military-like in construction. There were four long barrack-like buildings and what looked like a kitchen building nearby. There was also a shooting range in view and signs which Carlos could only assume pointed to more buildings not in sight.

"Carlos my friend!" shouted a voice.

Carlos turned and spotted Markus, the assassin that worked as a contact point between him and the Russian government. "Markus! Why have you brought us here to the middle of nowhere?"

Markus snorted in amusement and stepped down from the front steps of the villa. "We are a long way from Barcelona indeed my friend. This might seem the middle of nowhere, but you will make history here. History that men will write about. Come inside, I have hot drinks ready and some food after your long journey and you'll want to freshen up, then we'll talk more. Great things are happening my friend."

When they were finally settled in nearly an hour later they met up with Markus again, this time in the Villa's grand dining room. A fire roared in the fireplace giving the room a cozy feeling. Markus looked around for a moment before sitting down with Anna and Carlos. "You know, the Soviet Colonel that built this camp was shot for appropriating so much material for this building. He never got to enjoy the fruits of his efforts. Pity, but now we can relax and enjoy his folly instead no?"

Carlos nodded and remained silent while several members of the staff served their meal. It was eerie seeing the service staff scurry about in total silence.

Once the staff left the room, Markus began to speak as he filled his plate. "This land is officially marked as privately owned. It would not look too good for Russia to be too closely linked to what you'll be doing. That's why we're here and not in Russia itself.

"The household staff are all former guests of our Gulag system. Regretably most of them are no longer able to talk thanks to the experiences they had in the Gulag. They serve here because they know there is little else available for them in the outside world."

Anna shivered on her seat and her eyes darted towards the door that led to the kitchen. There was something downright sinister about an all mute household staff.

Markus paused and slowly twirled his wine glass in his hand for a moment. "It has not gone unnoticed that your political masters have become reluctant to use your services my friend. In truth, the Spanish seem to have lost their backbone as your ICW put increased pressure on them to accept the Dumbledore plan."

"You seem awful knowledgable about the happening in the Wizarding world for a muggle," Carlos said softly.

Markus shrugged. "I am well briefed I admit, but I do not have your abilities," he admitted candidly. "That isn't to say that you could use those abilities here with complete impunity. There are guards, both magical and mundane patrolling the fence line and here in the house there is constant surveilance. You are allowed to do your magic, but there are certain people, myself among them that are protected from your abilities. I do not suggest trying any spells on me, the results would prove most unpleasant."

Carlos nodded, he had expected as much. It was likely that Marcus wore some enchanted item that would respond to an attack, probably a portkey.

"So why am I here then?" Carlos asked.

Markus smiled jovially. "You my friend are going to help us bring down these dragons that threaten the stability of the world," Markus said. "My people will provide materials and training. You and your companion will do the mission planning and be in overall charge of operations."

Carlos blinked in surprise and Markus laughed. "Come now Carlos, we know that your Anna is very intelligent and crafty and we know that you do value her advice."

Carlos nodded slowly, it was true that he had come to rely on Anna. She might not be as good as he was in planning missions, but she was keen at pointing out problems with a plan and offering ways to avoid them.

Anna had the grace to blush slightly and look down at the table top.

"In time we hope that we'll be able to use your expertise to train real troops but for now, counter-insurgents will do the trick. This camp will be for magical students, you will train them in both muggle and magical ways. A few miles up the road is a second camp where we will have a more fanatical element that would not appreciate your wizards. Right now we have dozens of men fanning out across the globe looking for people willing to work with us, your first recruits are already here."

Carlos nodded thoughtfully, he knew the type that Markus meant. They were canon fodder, killing for the greater glory of their god. _The funny thing is,_ thought Carlos, _it didn't matter which god they were killing for. A fanatic is a fanatic._

"Kiev is just down the road, about an hours drive. Granted it's not Barcelona, or Paris, but still, there are some excellent restaurants and I hear the ballet is most excellent," Markus added, mostly for Anna's benefit. "You will have free run to visit Kiev as you wish and ample funds will be made available should you need to purchase anything from the city. The primary reason for the tight security is to keep the Ukraines from discovering what this place really is, and to protect you. Some of your trainees will be more than a bit... off."

Carlos glanced over to Anna who looked at him hopefully. Here was an opportunity for her to be more than just a bed partner and she knew there was a fortune to be made here if she was careful.

Carlos turned back to Markus. "My friend, given that my employer has become reluctant of late to use my services I find myself at loose ends and gladly accept your offer."

Markus beamed a broad smile and he gestured. A moment later a man came out with three brandy snifters and a bottle.

Anna looked over at Carlos for a split second and saw that he had caught it too, the building was under constant surveilance. They would have to be cautious with what they say.

**Weyrleader's Quarters, Campbeltown, December 1st 2002...**

Hermione slowly woke up and instantly knew something was wrong. She shifted slightly in the bed and her hand pressed against Harry's side. She had moved away from him in the middle of the night, which was very unusual. Normally both girls stayed tightly cuddled with Harry all night long, but tonight they both moved away from him.

"_Harry's sick,"_ Chekiath announced suddenly.

Hermione nodded, the heat he was giving off was an obvious clue.

May sat up and turned in the bed to face him. "He's running a high fever and he's not waking up," she said worriedly after nudging Harry several times.

"Comaloth?"

"_The watch dragon is already summoning the healer Hermione,"_ replied her dragon.

"Why isn't Cheki more upset?" asked May in confusion.

"_I don't like Harry being sick May, but Harry told me that I have to be strong even in times when he can't. He didn't like me being so upset when Kirteth's rider attacked him. __I am The Weyrleader's dragon, for my rider and my Weyr I need to be strong,__"_ Chekiath answered. _"__Besides, Harry is __just __ sleeping deeply so I'm not too worried."_

Both girls exchanged a glance. Gordon Chapman had hurt Harry after Harry had been forced to discipline him. Chekiath prevented Chapman from killing Harry and once Chapman recovered from his injuries he was proven to be insane and committed to an asylum for what appeared to be the rest of his life. The whole incident was something the Weyr rarely discussed. Every rider was certain that Kirteth's death caused Chapman to go insane. The dragons felt he was already sick in the head and his dragon's suicide just made the situation worse. No one knew the real truth but everyone wanted to put the incident behind them.

Legally Chekiath defended his rider in the face of mortal danger, no charges were pressed, much to the relief of the British government which was still struggling to form a policy on dragons.

"Why do I hear a capital 'T' in 'The Weyrleader' when Cheki says it?", May asked softly.

Hermione blinked and turned to look at her. "You're just now hearing it? I noted it shortly after I impressed Comaloth," she replied with a small smile, then she looked down at Harry. "Harry doesn't do normal, and I won't expect normal from his dragon either."

The door to the bedroom opened and Issac poked his head in. Both girls knew that Dobby had let the man into their house so they weren't alarmed by his entrance.

Both girls left the bed and slipped on a robe, then they stood back and watched while Issaac fussed with Harry's still form.

"_Well?"_ Chekiath demanded.

"He's exhausted for one thing and on top of that he has what appears to be a mild case of wizard's flu," Issaac said, then he straightened up. "I'll give him a potion which will help him, but other than that, there isn't much we can do except let him rest and make sure he gets plenty of fluids."

"So it's like normal flu?" asked May.

Issac nodded, then turned to Hermione. "I'll have an elf deliver some potions and include a booster for you. It's something only magicals can catch," Issac said.

Hermione nodded, she had all her wizard preventive potions, but a booster would help ensure she didn't catch Harry's illness.

"_I told him he was working too hard,"_ Chekiath replied.

"He's been pushing himself really hard learning those drills that Skip Tyler and Draco came up with. We've all been doing a lot of time flying in this weather at very cold altitudes," May added.

Hermione nodded in agreement, all of the Weyr had been working hard to learn the new drills. Skip had published a report about modern combat aircraft that caught Draco's interest. The two of them came up with a plan for dealing with them using the dragon's flaming ability and the ability to go Between.

Once Harry had approved their plan, Draco and Skip set about training their Weyrs in the new maneuvers. Ultimately Campbeltown and Condron would send trainers to the other Weyrs so that they would learn how to handle themselves in an emergency.

"Well he's downchecked for any flights Between for at least a week, probably ten days," Issaac said. "I do not want to have to treat another case of Between aggravated pnumonia."

Both girls nodded fervently. Katie Bell had taken her Kith home for a weekend and had caught wizard's flu from one of her cousins. She felt fine on her return to the Weyr, but the next morning she had to be rushed to the St. Mungos' with a severe case of pnumonia. The Weyr spent a number of tense days worrying about Katie, but she pulled through and made a full recovery.

The incident resulted in an upgrade to the Weyr hospital which included equipment to handle such illnesses and additional beds. What had started out as barely acceptable first aid station was turning into a small hospital that handled cases for all of the manned Weyrs. Plans were in the works to recreate a similar facility in Condron, but they were still looking for a dragon approved doctor in the states.

Condron's Doc Wilson was in fact a typical old fashioned country doctor who had already had a long career in the region. They wanted a younger person who could live at the Weyr like Issac did with his family.

Issac glanced down at Harry and shook his head. "He'll sleep, probably through to mid-morning. Let him have some aspirin when he wakes and something light to eat. I'll speak to Dobby about making sure there's some juice and light foods available. Anything too heavy and he might not be able to hold it down," he said, then he turned back to May and Hermione. "Watch his temperature, if it starts to spike call me. Personally I think he'll be fine. Oh and tell him I said that until he can show two days of normal temperatures, he's officially off duty and down checked for Between."

May snicked and Hermione nodded. Both of them knew that Harry would have at least tried to go to his office to work despite his fever. As it was they knew they would have their hands full trying to keep him in bed.

"Did you hear that Cheki?" asked May.

"_I heard the healer May. __I have very good hearing you know.__ Harry can't go Between until you __or the healer__ say__s__ so,"_ replied the dragon unhappily.

"It's for his own good Cheki," countered Hermione.

"_I know. Harry is strong, he'll be better sooner than anyone thinks,"_ Cheki replied.

Both May and Issaac turned to look at Harry on the bed. "I wonder," Issac mused.

"What?" asked Hermione.

Issac nodded towards Harry. "What Cheki said, it agrees with something I had noticed early on. Harry does seem to heal faster than normal, even for a wizard."

"Could it be due to the fact he's a mage?" Hermione replied.

Issac shrugged, "Maybe," he said dubiously, "I've never really had a mage as a long term patient before. Albus wasn't my patient even though I did consult and help Poppy Pomfrey once in a while. I didn't become Harry's primary physician until I came to the Weyr. It's interesting, maybe I'll talk to Poppy about it."

Issac packed up his kit, then he paused in front of the bedroom door. "I know it's not my place, but why are you girls putting up with this?"

Both girls looked at him dumbly. "What? Putting up with what?" asked May.

Issac sighed and shook his head. "There has been an increase in training based injuries lately. Ronan dislocated his wrist last week, Bob Malwich nearly broke his back two weeks ago. I've had to heal dozens of cuts. I noted a sharp upswing of male riders incurring injuries on these exercises, but there hasn't been a single injury among the girls."

Hermione and May exchanged an amused smile. "Harry has us training as well, but most of the guys seem to think it's their job to protect us. Even Harry does it to an extent although in his case I'm not sure he's even aware he's doing it. Bob threw out his back trying to perfect a mid air transfer of a rider. It was a dumb move on his part and Harry ripped into him over it. No rider is going to willingly abandon their dragon, even if they are injured," Hermione said.

"We're all training hard, I guess we lost sight of the fact that we're all training and juggling school and regular Weyr duties all at the same time. We'll speak to Harry about slowing down. Maybe even taking some time off to relax," May offered. "Skip's report scared a lot of people. When Ronan and Harry approved the extra training people realized it was a real possibility. I promise Issac, we'll speak to Harry about easing off on the training."

Issac nodded, satisfied that he had managed to get his message across. He turned and exited the bedroom, he briefly smiled at Dobby who held the door open for him.

In the bedroom May and Hermione looked at Harry, then started their usual wake up routine. They knew Cheki would warn them if anything was amiss. Both women thought the hard part would be convincing Harry to reduce the training schedule. They would be wrong in that assumption, Harry had seen the injury reports and had planned to reduce the training schedule before he got sick.

**Joensuu Weyr/Airport, Finland, December 10th 2002...**

Ismo Sippola looked down at the clipboard showing him the purchases made in the previous month. He sighed and absently initialed the top sheet before handing it back to Ingrid Frenoa. Ingrid had been studying accounting in school and had neatly slotted into the role of financial officer for the Weyr. They still had some adult oversight, but Joensuu Weyr was quickly becoming independent from outside influences.

"I know you don't like dealing with these financial items Ismo, but we need to track these expenses," Ingrid said apologetically.

"No no, I know you have to track this Ingrid. I shouldn't be take out my annoyance about having to deal with it on you," he replied.

BOOM!

The sound rolled across the airfield and echoed against the gentle hills. Ismo felt the deep vibration a moment later. He immediately pulled Ingrid to the ground, partially covering her with his own body, then he looked up and around. All around the Weyr dragons were bellowing in alarm. Across the field from the Weyr lay the local airport and there was a large cloud of smoke rising from the small parking lot.

The airport was small regional airport that saw a fair amount of commuter traffic daily, because of that, the parking lot was usually full. Now it seemed that a great many cars were on fire in the lot.

Climbing to his feet Ismo saw his second running towards him.

"Adam?"

"It looks like a car exploded in the airport parking lot. Now there are many cars burning and there may be many injured," explained Adam.

Ismo frowned, then he nodded to himself. "Assemble Wings one and two and let's see if we can help," He ordered, then he turned to Ingrid. "Send an email to all Weyrleaders informing them of the explosion and let them know we'll have more information as soon as we know anything."

Ingrid could have easily had her dragon speak to Chekiath, but by sending an email she could contact all of the Weyrleaders with one message rather than having to repeat the message each time.

From a hilltop more than a mile from the airport several people in a concealed position noted forty dragons lifting off in formation and flying over to the parking lot.

"Less than sixty seconds from detonation to response," murmured one man. He glanced over and noted the video camera was still recording everything.

"Da, is good, better even than our own aircraft . Headquarters will need to know this."

"I will call it in," replied the first man, then he bent over and reached for a secure satellite transceiver.

**Ministry of Magic, Britain, December 10th 2002...**

Sir William glanced up from his desk to see Arthur carefully opening a brown paper package that their secretary had just delivered.

"Something good Arthur?" he asked. The current report he was reading was dreadfully boring and he felt he needed a break.

Arthur looked up and smiled broadly. "This," he said, holding up the package, "is the very first step in Albus' plan."

He tore open the package at one end and carefully removed several small bottles. Sir William stood from his desk and walked over to Arthur's desk. Arthur handed him a bottle which he examined carefully. "What is it?"

Arthur took the bottle from his hands and placed it on the desk. "You know that we managed to push through the Dumbledore plan on the slimmest of margins. A lot of countries still refuse to go along with the idea. The Brazilians offered to start the ball rolling by providing us with this. This is probably the strongest non-addicting pain relief potion in the world. They will be marketing it as a product of native medicines from the Amazon basin.

"In the meantime, samples will be given to laboratories around the world so that it's value can be tested. The ICW believes that eventually the scientists will agree that the potion works even if they don't understand why it works," Arthur concluded.

"It's really not addictive?" asked Sir William with an intensity that surprised Arthur.

"No, not really. While there are pain relief potions that are addictive, this particular one isn't. Why?"

Sir William sighed and shook his head. "When I took this position I promised myself that I wouldn't take advantage of magic, but my wife has been fighting a losing battle with arthritis. She's always in pain these days," he said softly.

Arthur frowned and picked up one bottle. "William, I knew your wife was ill and I admit to being surprised when you didn't bring her to a healer..."

"I looked it up," William said suddenly. "Arthritis is virtually unknown among wizards. The healers wouldn't know how to treat it."

Arthur shook his head ruefully. It was true there were diseases among the muggles that wizards never suffered from, just as there were diseases that muggles never caught that were deadly to wizards. But Arthritis wasn't one of them.

"William, your source was wrong," Arthur said bluntly. "Arthritis is treatable and wizards do catch it. You need to remember that some authors of wizarding books are heavily prejudiced against normal people and refuse to admit we have anything in common with them. I know for a fact that May McNulty brewed the curative potion for arthritis and gave it to her grandfather. I remember listening to Albus explain how he had to caution her about giving potions to people that didn't know about magic.

"My daughter, Ginny, is apprenticing under healer that grew up in the muggle world. If you like I could ask her to see if her master would be available to look at your wife? As much as I'd like to say, just take one of these bottles, I'm not a healer. He can treat her condition and if he can't, he can certainly help control her pain."

Sir William blinked in surprise, he hadn't expected any help from the wizards let alone cure his wife's condition. "Ask her Arthur, I don't know how much longer I can bear to see her in such pain," he said pleadingly.

Arthur smiled reassuringly at the man, "I'll go floo home right away, Ginny should be home for lunch."

William nodded and walked back over to his desk while Arthur left the room to use the floo in the outer office.

"You know William, a little magic in your life wouldn't hurt. I see you trying to emulate the other deputy ministers in trying to not take advantage of your situation, but it isn't the same thing," Alejandro Croaker said from his desk.

William looked at him with a puzzled expression. "How so?"

"Take the minister for Defense. He can be arrested if he accepted a bribe from a contractor. Merlin knows you've drilled it into us often enough that we need to ensure that we deal fairly with our subjects, including businesses and that we resist the temptation to accept money for favors. Thats fine, but there's a big difference between accepting a bribe and hiring a healer to help your wife with her illness. Even if the healer can't cure her, he can make her more comfortable. It isn't a conflict of interest to take advantage of some of the abilities we wizards have," Croaker offered, then he waved a hand towards the door.

"Arthur offered to intercede with his daughter's mentor because he respects you. He's also a good man that dislikes seeing someone in pain. I daresay he'd do the same for anyone, but I know that he personally respects you. There are still people in this building that do not respect muggles like yourself. Granted their number is dwindling every day, but they are still out there."

"Its a hard habit to break," Sir William replied pensively, "When I was with the Home Office, we had to be so circumspect. I pondered bringing a healer in for weeks and never quite made up my mind, then I found a book that said Wizards don't get muggle diseases. To be honest I'm not sure exactly why I told Arthur what I did, it just all suddenly seemed to come out."

Croaker grinned at the man. "You saw hope in those bottles William. I wasn't keen on Albus' plan, or what Arthur put together from his notes, but I've come to understand that our world couldn't remain hidden for much longer. I will be plain, I don't like the idea of exposing our world, but I also know that if exposure is what we must do, then controlling it is far better than risking our fate to random chance."

William nodded and turned back to his computer. He had long known that Croaker didn't like revealing the Wizarding world, but he had accepted it as a necessary evil. And if a healer could help his Margret he'd seize the chance.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

**Special ****Dedication****:** _With the publication of this chapter we mark the passing of someone who made it his life's work to bring laughter into the world. Robin Williams is gone and he will be sorely missed. There will be no way of replacing that kind of talent or that kind of person. Alyx and I humbly dedicate this chapter to him. This week laughter dimmed in the world and we'll miss you Robin. Mork has gone home to Orson._

* First off, I'm sad to say that the rubber duck ran off with a squeaky chew toy. I'm not exactly broken up about it, but I do wish Alyx would stop laughing at me.

* A great many people were surprised at how we handled 9/11. The simple fact is that even superman can't save everyone. 9/11 was always going to happen in this story and for the Weyrs it would be a political event, not something they would actively participate in. Even if they showed up after the buildings collapsed, there would have been little they could have done. Most of the injuries received by NY area hospitals happened before the towers fell.

Finally I'd like to add that 9/11 did touch me personally. I knew people that lived and worked in those towers, and up until 1994 I often found myself working at both towers.

The event triggered a fundamental shift in the American psyche that still echoes through the country today. Few people realize that the terrorists won the war on terror merely because they forced us to change our ways.

* KB0, thank you. Comparing my meager efforts to someone like Tom Clancy is a great compliment. The man had the ability to weave multiple plot lines together in a logical manner that pulled you along like a roller coaster.

If anyone is interested, KB0 has a very interesting HP/Star Trek Next Generation crossover going on. I recommend checking it out.

* Jupimako I thought I mentioned the sex of the child, but if not, you'll see the babe in this chapter.

* Batman4U while your idea is interesting, a dragon portrait would be silent. There's no mind behind the portrait to provide the telepathy and who said the spells that animate a wizard portrait would work with a dragon. Go try the idea out with a goblin or house elf and see if that works first.

* BJH without giving away too much I will say that the problems between the Weyr and the US Government are not over. The Weyr however has committed itself to several multi-million dollar commercial contracts, which means things are going to have to be very dire before they would abandon those. Plans are in the works which I am not going to reveal to you here, or privately. I guess you'll just have to keep reading.

Condron Weyr, despite being more loyal to dragons than their own country, still consider the US of A as home. And that is a hard concept to break.

* Dragon7734 has apparently forgotten that back in Book 1 of this series Campbeltown purchased and is maintaining it's own herd of animals. You can safely assume that every Weyr does the same or contracts with someone local to provide similar services.

* Araytigre seems to think that Milth can track down Colonel Michel because he has 'touched' Michel's mind. To that I have to say that dragons are not blood hounds. Milth can find his own rider because he can see his rider's location through his rider's eyes. No dragon, not even Chekiath can do what Araytigre wants. Sorry, but dragon telepathy doesn't work that way.


	10. Chapter 10

**Standard disclaimer:**

Bob was busy threading the chapter into the projector when Alyx bounced onto the stage.

"I have a great idea!" she exclaimed happily.

Bob sighed and shook his head. "Is this anything like the time you wanted to open a summer camp for budding serial killers? I mean really, the bank laughed at you the moment you mentioned Camp Lizzie Borden."

Alyx blushed and glared at Bob. "Hey now, that was a great idea, I can't help if it the bank didn't think so. Besides, this idea is way better than that!"

"Better than the idea you sent to the Army about breeding billions of black widow spiders to be air dropped over Indiana as an all natural weapon. The Army had to remind you that Indiana was not our enemy."

"So I got the name wrong!" Alyx huffed. "Indiana, Iraq, they both start with I! And I just bet those Indianians are plotting against us anyway."

Bob bowed his head. "I know I'm going to regret this, but what's your idea?"

"Youtube!" Alyx proclaimed gleefully. "Everyone is posting a video on Youtube! So why not us? I mean Clell posted his glee video on youtube, and KB0 posted his skateboard into a great white's mouth fail video. Why can't we post our own fail video?"

Bob looked at the audience, his expression deeply troubled. "Go on," he said cautiously.

"It'll be great, we'll attach you to a high altitude balloon while sitting on a rocket powered bicycle. At 100,000 feet you'll fire the rockets and aim for the flaming rings I'll set up in the backyard..."

Bob cringed and started to whimper as Alyx explained how this video would culminate in an ultimate nut shot involving several bowling balls and an angry donkey.

Bob bolted for the door and Alyx finally noticed he was no longer listening to her. She frowned and turned to the audience. "He ran again didn't he? I swear that man. Well he can't get far, when he slept last night I shoved a gps tracker up his butt."

She turned and eyed the audience. "So who wants to volunteer for the ultimate nut shot fail video of all time hmmmm?"

Meanwhile three miles away, deep in the primordial forests of Northern Idaho Bob stepped out from behind a tree having completed his business. He was muttering darkly to himself. "Can't even once get a decent disclaimer. All we need is to tell people we don't own Harry Potter or the dragonriders of Pern, but no, she has to make a video. And I mean really I have got to stop watching alien documentaries, I swear that last turd looked like it had a satellite dish embedded in it! I hope it doesn't leave a scar!"

Bob pulled out his tablet and remotely activated his patented WiFi chapter projector. "Enjoy the chapter folks, I need a vacation until Alyx calms down."

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 10  
Flexing Muscles**

* * *

**The Weyrleaders Office, Campbeltown Weyr, Dec 20th 2002...**

"I figured I'd find you in here," said a voice from the doorway.

Harry looked up and grimaced slightly, "I know, I know, I should be relaxing or something."

James Mills smirked at Harry. He was recovered from his bout of wizards flu, but at this point he was supposed to be preparing for tomorrow, the day he, May and Hermione would marry.

"I know the girls kicked you out of your own home for the night, so I thought I would drop in and ask if you'd like to spend the night at my place. There's little to do at this point other than wait," James offered.

Harry smiled ruefully, "I might as well, I was still wondering where we were going to sleep tonight. I even considered returning to Disko, but..."

He trailed off into silence. Disko did have people on it now, but they weren't anyone Harry knew well enough. The hotel had been built and there were always five wings from various Weyrs assigned there for two week stays. They manned the small technology and exhibition building the Weyr had built next to the hotel. Harry hadn't gone to Disko because there was a good chance he'd arrive and not really know any of those riders.

"Dobby," James called.

Dobby appeared a second later and looked around the room. James was one of the few muggles he would respond to. Hermione's parents and Remus' wife were also among the few that he would come in response to their call.

"Dobby, Harry will be spending the night at my house, would you pack a bag for him containing clothing for tonight and at least tomorrow morning?"

Dobby nodded and smirked at Harry. "Harry Potter sir's misses already asked Dobby to pack such a bag. Dobby is glad Harry Potter sir is not going to sleep in drafty old cave at Disko. Dobby thinks Cheki dragon wouldn't be comfortable there."

Chekiath cracked open an eye and moved his head to look at Dobby. _"Dobby is right about that, there isn't much space for me there __anymore__,"_ the dragon said.

James chuckled and moved to sit in the chair in front of Harry's desk. "Now that where you're sleeping tonight has been solved, what has you so engrossed on this, the last official day of your bachelorhood?"

Harry picked up a slip of paper and waved it at James. "This. This is a list of current problems and things that just make me leery. I'm trying to figure out if they are related somehow."

"Oh? Such as?"

Harry glanced down at his paper. "Well there was the car bombing at Joensuu. We know no dragons were injured, and the Weyr did well in helping rescue the injured, but there was no one taking responsibility for the bombing. The police confirm it was a bomb, but that's about all they know. Then there have been several problems which have delayed construction of the power plants. Direct attacks at the construction sites have stopped, but work stoppages and inexplicable shortages have slowed construction in four countries.

"And then there is the American issue," Harry added darkly.

James leaned forward in his seat. "American issue? What American issue?"

Harry leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Skip alerted me that there was a new security officer assigned to the Weyr. Ordinarily it wouldn't be a matter of concern, but the dragons are saying the man is untrustworthy. Skip complained via Jasper Brady, but despite Jasper's best efforts, they've been told that security issues for the Weyr are a military matter and not a Weyr concern. I know the Yanks are allies of yours but it's making Condron uneasy. What happened to Jared is still fresh in their mind."

James held up a hand. "Easy Harry, yes the Yanks are friends, but that doesn't mean we know what they are doing, or are in agreement with everything they do."

"I know James," Harry replied, "If I thought that we wouldn't be having this conversation. The only reason why I'm letting you know now is so you may inform the PM. If things really go sour, Condron will evacuate the Weyr. We don't want to leave America, we have nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in commercial contracts with American companies that we'd probably lose, and while the dragons and riders have no loyalty to the American government, they do consider Condron their home."

James nodded and looked thoughtful. "I don't see how all of these things can be connected Harry. I mean, yes the problems plaguing the power station construction is troubling. We know there are several different groups working in concert there, but I can't see the Americans involved in that."

Harry nodded. "I know, the only common element is that when looked at in combination, it's apparent that someone is making our life more difficult than it need be."

James grinned. "Perhaps, or its merely a coincidence lad. Besides, who said everything has to go your way?"

"True enough," Harry said, then he closed the file on his computer and straightened out some papers on his desk. He glanced at a photo on his desk of May and Hermione and chuckled, "Did you know that the girls tried to insist I skip the traditional bachelor party while they planned on one for themselves?"

James blinked in surprise, this was news to him. "No I hadn't heard that."

"Mariah and Luna were planning a party for May and Hermione until the dragons said they wanted to attend," Harry replied with a large grin. "I had told Ronan already to not plan anything for me, so I found it rather funny that the girls own dragons put the brakes on their party."

"Luna and Mariah were most put out when the dragons insisted on wanting to tag along. Eventually Comaloth admitted that if I couldn't have a bachelor party, then it wasn't fair to allow Hermione and May to have one. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to it, it seemed to me that the party was a bad idea from the start."

James shook his head. He remembered vividly the party his mates had organized for him and how much trouble he had gotten into over it.

"Its probably for the best, those kind of parties have a tendency to get out of hand," James murmured. "So what are the girls doing tonight then?"

"According to Hermione they are picking up their dresses this afternoon after a final fitting and then they are all going back to my place," Harry said and then he paused and shook his head. "Most of the female first riders will be there, and a great many other girls from the other impressions. May called it was a female bonding moment. Sirius on the other hand called it terrifying and suggested I run now."

Harry looked across his desk to James and shrugged a bit helplessly. Every time he thought he was understanding his girls, they would do something that totally confused him. James chuckled at Sirius' comments, Sirius would talk up a storm, but the fact was he was committed to Katherine totally.

A knock at his door distracted both of them. Harry looked over to see Lee Jordan standing in the door with a large wrapped package in his hands. "Harry, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Lee said, flashing a dazzling white smile.

"No Lee, come on in," Harry said, waving him into the office.

"Look I know tomorrow is going to be really hectic, and then Christmas is right around the corner, but I did this up and Mariah said it would look perfect in your office. She insisted that I bring it over now rather than waiting for you to come back from your honeymoon," Lee said, handing over the large package. "I'm giving these to several people, but you're the first that will see it asides from Mariah and the baby."

Harry smiled and accepted the large package, it was obviously a picture of some kind. "Should I wait until Yule?"

"No no, go ahead," Lee said a bit nervously.

Harry unwrapped the package and Chekiath craned his long neck into the room so he could see over Harry's shoulder.

"_It's kinda plain,"_ Chekiath said dubiously.

"You big lunkhead," Harry said with a chuckle, "you're looking at the back of the picture."

"_Oh, good I knew Lee could draw better than that."_

Harry turned the picture over and his breath caught in his throat. The image looked so real he felt he could reach through the glass and touch the strange bluish tinged plants. There was a double waterfall and an obvious volcano puffing up smoke in the background. In the image the sky was darkening and two moons could be seen casting moonlight over the river that flowed from the base of the waterfalls.

"Is that?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Yes, both Buth and Sinnath helped a lot with it," Lee said quietly, "After I put the image together in photoshop and the dragons said it looked like their memories, I had it professionally printed, then I used the same charm that they use to animate a portrait. Obviously there's no intelligence powering the image, but the charm makes regular images look almost like you're seeing them through a window."

"That's a scene from Pern?" asked James.

Harry looked over to him and smiled. "Yes, it's breathtaking isn't it? It looks so ordinary and yet so different. When Lee was recovering from his injury he started working with Sinnath to reverse the process of giving jump images. He wanted to see if Sinnath could give him an image," Harry said, then he gestured to the photo like image. "The dragons have always had that ability, but the images have been fuzzy and not very clear. Some dragons, like Dronth and Spath could give very clear images. Lee's Sinnath had to train himself to sharpen the details. This is Pern as our dragons remember it."

Harry walked over to a blank wall and placed the image up on the wall with a sticking charm, then he turned back to Lee. "It's wonderful Lee, you have a wonderful talent and I envy your ability."

Lee shot him a dazzling smile, while he greatly enjoyed working in the Public Affairs office, art was something he was passionate about. He even had a nude of his wife, but that was something he wasn't about to share with anyone but her.

"If feels like you could open a window and feel the breeze coming from those waterfalls," James said in wonder, then he looked over to Lee. "Lee you have an incredible talent, I would love to see more of your work."

Lee's face darkened as he blushed, then he said, "Well I do have one other that I have been working on. I was going to give it to Harry so he could present it to Her Majesty someday. Harry do you mind?"

Lee gestured to Harry's computer.

Harry moved away from the keyboard, Lee's comment had him very interested. "No, help yourself."

Lee tapped in a few commands and then the monitor displayed an image of Buckingham Palace. It was perfect in detail, from the guards to the flags snapping in the breeze. Overhead a division of dragons with Chekiath in the lead hung in the cloudless sky. It was clear that Lee had melded different images together because Chekiath and Division 1 never visited the palace in that formation. Harry had gone there several times with a few dragons, but never with the entire whole division.

"I call this 'Shelter of Wings'," Lee said quietly.

"Oh lord the Queen is going to love this," James said in admiration.

Harry stared at the image for a long moment, then he looked at Lee, "Lee, let me know when you're ready to print that out. We'll get one copy specially framed, and signed by you which we'll give to the Queen. Also circulate the image via our network, I'm sure some of the riders will want a copy for themselves."

Lee nodded and Harry shot him a grateful smile.

"_Harry, it's time we left here for the day,"_ Chekiath said.

Harry blinked in surprise, then shook his head. "My dragon and my personal nag," he grumbled good naturedly.

"_Well I wouldn't have to remind you of these things if you remembered them yourself. Besides tomorrow you're going to be covering Hermione and May, you need your rest,"_ Chekiath said smugly.

Lee and James started to laugh and Harry covered his face with his hands. Dragons had a tendency to say the wrong thing at the worst possible times.

The following morning in a chilly open field not far from Lord James' manor house on the isle of Arran, Harry, Hermione and May took part in a druid service that acknowledged their commitment to each other. Harry drew on the calming influence of the many hundreds of dragons that wished to see The Weyrleader wed, while the brides had chewed their nails down to the quick.

In attendance were all of the current Weyrleaders, the extended families of both brides, a select group of the press who had promised to be discreet, most of Campbeltown Weyr and hundreds of dragons.

For Harry the hardest part of the service was the knot tying. All three had to practice tying the knots for several weeks before mastering it. The first knot, Harry to May was easy, but the second knot of Harry to Hermione was much harder and it took May's assistance since Harry and May were still both knotted.

Surprisingly both families took the unusual arrangement in stride. There was a little grumbling, but everyone now knew that being a dragon rider could result in unusual relationships. Harry's openness and the work of the Weyr press office had managed to silence all but the most radical bigots around the world.

No country officially allowed for the multiple relationships of the Weyrs, but most had quietly informed their Weyrleaders that they would look the other way due to their unusual circumstances.

During the indoor party that followed the outdoor service Lee Jordan slipped Harry a slip of paper explaining that an informal poll taken by the PM's office showed fifty seven percent of the population understanding and approving of dragon influenced relationships. The PM and Harry understood that this didn't mean they could rewrite the marriage laws, but at least for now there would be no call for their informal acknowledgment to be declared illegal.

Later that evening, Ronan sat in Harry's office. Harry, Hermione and May had left for a week at Joensuu Weyr, from there they would travel to Italy for a week long cruise before meeting up with their dragons and moving on to Sakushima Weyr for another two weeks.

Ronan quickly checked the Weyrleader's email to make sure there was nothing important, then he logged out of the account and leaned back in the chair. For the next month he would be the defacto Weyrleader of Campbeltown, although in an emergency Harry was only a dragon call away.

He sighed tiredly and glanced up at Lee's picture. It had been a long day and he had just a little too much to drink, making him slightly tipsy, but he had promised Harry he would check email twice daily.

"_It is a long jump,"_ Garanoth announced in the silence of his mind.

"_I know my friend, __but we are not ready to attempt it yet__,"_ Ronan replied silently.

"_Someday my rider, in the meantime the Weyr is well and the dragons are happy for The Weyrleader. Chekiath, is content now. He has his consorts and now the Weyrleader has consorts for himself. I think its time for us to go home. Karen is waiting anxiously for you. Something about The Weyrleader's bonding ceremony has her wanting to be covered tonight like Hermione and May."_

Ronan blinked in surprise, then hurriedly shut down the computer. "Lets not keep Karen waiting then," he said with a grin.

**VIP Cottage, Joensuu Weyr, Dec 22nd 2002...**

May stretched luxuriously in the bed and smiled. Hermione lifted her head and grinned at her over the sleeping form of their husband. The six of them had arrived late last night and after getting settled in place, Hermione cast the bonding spell on all six of them.

Eddie Took had suggested that Hermione cast the bonding spell because no one was really sure what would happen if Harry cast the spell. Harry was a mage and could cast spells more powerfully than anyone in the Weyr. Eddie was concerned that Harry casting the spell might cause the bond to fail, or to result in something unexpected.

As it was, there was a brief moment of concern after Hermione cast the spell. May collapsed and was unconscious for about three minutes. The only thing that prevented a total panic was the fact that none of the dragons seemed concerned at all.

When May awoke they retired for the evening.

"Good morning Mrs. Potter," May softly said to Hermione.

Hermione grinned. "Not quite, James will file the paperwork today, but it'll take at least four weeks to get a court to approve our name changes. And legally we'll only be Miss Potter."

May made a face and shook her head. "I want to be Mrs. Potter," she said with a bit of a pout.

They weren't the first triplet that used a legal name change to reflect the fact that they have gotten married. In fact Hermione spent at least one day a month processing forms for name changes to the courts.

"You are Mrs in all the ways that count," Harry said sleepily. Last night he had made love to both girls, and both had been present. Neither girl was interested in the other, but they had lost any sense of modesty between them. It didn't happen often like that, but when it did, it was something for each of them to savor.

Harry looked at May, "You scared me last night. I know Hermione couldn't have messed up her casting, but the spell isn't supposed to make you pass out either."

May gently cupped his cheek. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but it caught me by surprise also. Hermione cast her spell and suddenly I felt you, and Hermione, Comaloth, Trath and Chekiath. It wasn't like what I normally feel through Trath, this was different. It was like an intense pressure, then it suddenly stopped."

"We did merge the magic of five very magical beings last night and shared that merging with you," Hermione reminded her.

Harry reached up and gently pulled May close enough to place a kiss on her nose, then he repeated the gesture with Hermione. "You're ours now May," he said seriously. "Sharing our magic is the most intimate thing we can give a person."

He glanced towards Hermione who was smiling. "We belong to each other," she said to him.

"_Us too,"_ Chekiath added.

The three broke up in laughter, but they knew the dragon was right. Harry, May, Hermione, Chekiath, Trath and Comaloth were now a family, bonded by rider bonds and a marriage bond.

Hermione shook her head and reached under the covers to lightly stroke Harry. "I know we talked about visiting some museums in Oslo, but I think no one will mind if we wait until the afternoon. I don't know about May, but I want my husband again."

Harry grinned at his wives, he wasn't about to turn them down. For now Ronan could deal with any Weyr problems that might arise.

**Luna's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, August 5th 2002...**

Luna opened the door to her cottage and slipped inside. She was trying to be quiet and not wake up Trandiath.

She carefully closed the door and stopped in her tracks. Trandiath's eyes glowed slightly with streaks of green and blue in the dim light. _"I think you prefer Jack's snorkack to finding a real one. __You do know that's not a real snorkack__,"_ her dragon observed.

"Well no, but if you must know, Jack's snorkack doesn't stay crumpled for long when I'm around," Luna said smugly.

"_Still he does have a lot of nargles around his head. And from what I've been told the Weyrleader's snorkack is bigger than Jack's. I just don't understand why you won't become Jack's consort. He really likes you. With Jack and Glamiath it would be easier for us to find any real Snorkacks."_

Luna blinked, then frowned. "Yes but the Weyrleader is taken besides I like my freedom."

Trandiath narrowed her eyes and watched her rider for a moment. _"Did you know that both Meranarth and Glamiath have asked me to be their consort. I have clutched once with Glamiath and Jack has covered you __almost as __many time__s as Glamiath has covered me.__ Andre never has __covered you__and Meranarth ha__s__ not covered __me__ but Meranarth is a fine fellow__. Perhaps you'd like to try __Andre__ out __for a while __before I make a decision?"_

Luna's pale complexion paled even further. "My heart are you sure you want to be a consort to one male when you can have your pick?"

"_Many of the best males have taken consorts already. Soon I will have to settle for a yearling and I don't want one too young. Glamiath is a fine male from our impression who gives me strong eggs and his rider makes you happy. The only reason he hasn't taken a consort is because he wants me. Are you sure you don't want to be a consort my Luna? You insist on sampling what the Weyr has to offer, but I know your true heart," _her dragon threw back at her.

Trandiath was stretching the truth a bit, but the fact was Luna was the only girl remaining from the first impression who hadn't settled down. Jack Bruno and his Glamiath were the only male pair from the first impression and they had been waiting on Luna.

"And what is my true heart?" she asked cautiously. She never thought she would be having this conversation!

The large dragon extended her neck into the living room so that the two were eyeball to eyeball. _"You would be happier if you had Jack as your __mate__. You know that, but you refuse to admit it. __I think you are afraid, but I know Jack would never hurt you. __Jack is unhappy because you won't make a choice, his dragon is unhappy also. I've noted that humans go on a trip to celebrate the formalizing of their __mating__. Couldn't we use that time to search for real Snorkacks __when you're not playing with Jack's Snorkack__?"_

Luna sat on her couch and stared at her dragon. This was the last thing she had ever expected Trandiath to say.

Trandiath settled back in her stall and looked at her rider. "_I wonder if Meranarth will be free for a shagging flight tomorrow?_"

"Trandi!" Luna exclaimed, then she flushed as she realized her dragon rarely had random shagging flights. Her flights were mostly confined to three dragons and the riders for two of them had recently gotten married. Only Jack remained single from the first impression and if Trandi was to be believed, he remained single, waiting for her.

Luna looked down at her hands in shame as she realized that once she had castigated Hermione for fighting against being a dragon rider and now she was guilty of the something similar.

Finally she reach over to an end table and picked up the phone and dialed a three digit number. She waited nearly a full minute before someone picked up the phone. "Jack? I'm sorry to wake you. Do you think I can come over?"

She listened for a moment, then glanced at her dragon who was watching her. "I know, but this is important. I just had a very interesting conversation with Trandiath that we need to talk about. I promise, this is good news."

Luna giggled softly at something Jack said and figured he was right in a way, he was certainly going to get lucky a second time tonight, and more. "I'll be right over."

Luna put the phone down and started towards the door, there she stopped and turned back to Trandiath. "I'll see you in the morning lovey." Luna turned and exited the cottage. She knew her dragon was right about several things and Jack was a very loving man, all it took was her dragon to nudge her in a new direction.

Trandiath nodded her large head then she turned it in the direction of Jack Bruno's cottage. _"That went easier than I thought it would,"_ she said.

"_Of course it did, your rider is nearly as smart as you are,"_ Glamiath replied, _"And she makes Jack very happy."_

"_Flattery like that will get you another shagging flight tomorrow,"_ Trandiath said smugly, it wasn't often that she could convince her rider to do something for her own good and she was pleased with tonight's result. _"And maybe now they'll stop the sneaking around and let us sleep at night."_

"_With the noise they make? I doubt it, perhaps you can ask Comaloth if Hermione will cast a silencing charm on their bedroom."_

Trandiath rumbled with laughter. _"I can ask, but Comaloth says Hermione can get really loud also."_

**The Burrow, Christmas day, 2003...**

The gifts were all opened and after a meal that left Arthur loosening his belt a notch, he decided to go out to his work shed for a hours.

The shed had undergone massive changes in the past few years. For one thing, the shed had an electric line running to it to power his radio and his computer. The old shed had been torn down and a newer, more modern building built, containing a office and a place for him to tinker with his muggle devices. There was even another room in the shed which was used by his Auror detail to keep watch over the Burrow.

Arthur sat down at his desk and reached over to flip a switch that heated some water for his tea, then he pulled out a printout he had been meaning to examine.

The Dumbledore plan was in full swing and running under the watchful eye of the ICW. A few countries had refused to participate, but most were. Many didn't know there was a reverse version of the Dumbledore plan thought up by Arthur that was working to bring muggle products into the Wizarding world.

It wasn't just enough to introduce magic to muggles. No the Wizarding world was only hurting itself by ignoring the vast wealth of goods available in the muggle world.

Arthur reached out and picked up a tiny model car. He turned it over and flipped the switch on the bottom then he placed it down on the desk. The little police car flashed it's lights and he pushed it along the desk for a moment with a broad smile.

"Fred and George," he whispered to himself. The ministry had just recently picked up on the fact that Weasley Wheezes was carrying a full line of toy and game products from mundane suppliers. Jokes and pranks took up a good two thirds of their product line, but the remaining one third was devoted to things like Matchbox cars and board games.

Very few businesses wanted to carry mundane products, but the Weasley twins were leading the effort. The small toy cars were extremely popular with the younger children and even Hogwarts could boast of a club dedicated to Monoply.

The other surprising business that was thriving with the new product lines were places like Madam Malkins. Robes were quickly becoming a thing of the past as the wizarding world discovered the comfort of jeans and t-shirts. Even Arthur wore a suit to work these days. The first time he came home in it Molly was stunned, then she quickly dragged him up to their bedroom.

Arthur now spent time actively helping wizarding businesses bring muggle products to the Wizarding world.

"Excuse me Mister Secretary?"

Arthur quickly turned off the lights and siren on the little car and looked up. "Yes?"

"We have picked up someone at the ward line that says he's your son," replied the auror. "He claims to be Charlie."

Arthur shook his head in surprise, then he heard a familiar voice. "Hey now, not so rough!"

Arthur rushed to the door where he spotted Charlie being held by two aurors. "Wait! That's Charlie!" he exclaimed.

Instantly the two aurors released him and stepped away. Arthur stepped forward and grasped his son in a hug. When Charlie hissed in pain Arthur released him. "Charlie? What's wrong?"

"Can we talk inside?" Charlie replied.

"Yes yes, come in," Arthur babbled as he backed into the room. He frowned when he saw the healing scar that ran down his son's face from his forehead to below his chin. It was red and raw looking and very definitely recent.

Charlie limped into the room and glanced around for a chair to sit in. Arthur motioned him to sit and then took his own desk chair. "What happened to you?"

Charlie looked down at his feet. "I've been a fool," he said quietly. "I didn't want to believe the obvious."

Charlie looked up at his father and raised one hand to touch his scar. "A hippogriff did this. It would have killed me too, but then a dragon appeared out of no where and killed the hippogriff. I thought for sure that I was dead then a second dragon appeared in the sky for a moment before vanishing again. Meanwhile the first dragon spoke to me. To me!

"It told me that it wasn't my time and help would soon be there," Charlie whispered, then his face flushed with shame. "The dragon said I had much to atone for and it wasn't right that I came from a family that The Weyrleader considered his own."

"We did try to tell you," Arthur gently reminded him. Charlie had been a dragon handler until Harry ended the time of the beasts. After that he drifted into a job working in South America, bitter about losing a job he had dreamed of for years.

"I know, but I thought I really knew the dragons. I thought that somehow Harry had pulled a trick on everyone. I mean he's a mage, he could have spelled the dragons into intelligence," Charlie protested.

"He could have, but he didn't, he didn't need to and I doubt he'd even know how. He was just a young boy when he first encountered a dragon," Arthur said. "Harry and his dragon have been back here to visit many times and I have had many enjoyable conversations with Chekiath, so has your mother. A dragon is just another type of person, like the goblins or the elves."

Charlie looked up at his father and it was impossible to miss the pain in his eyes. "I know that now. I'm sorry, I was wrong. I spent weeks recovering and during that time one single dragon, Shoth was his name, he visited me every day and talked to me. It didn't take long for me to realize just how much of a fool I've been."

Arthur stood from his chair and gently pulled Charlie from his seat. "Every one makes mistakes son. If you're lucky you realize that and work to overcome what impact it had on your life. Now come on, your mother will very happy to see you. Everyone will be happy to see you. Our family will be whole and together again."

Arthur led Charlie back to the house. His son was hurt physically and emotionally, but he was home. Perhaps now Charlie could mend some fences.

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, April 2004...**

Harry sighed and pushed away from his desk. He stood and walked over to the window.

"_What's bothering you Harry?"_

He smiled and turned to his dragon. "Its not so much that I'm bothered mate, it's more like I feel I'm tied to this place. I guess I'm just feeling restless today."

Chekiath glanced around the room. One wall hung a huge world map with large patches of red, indicating countries where dragons shouldn't go. _"I don't see any rope tying you down. Maybe we should go out for a flight?"_

Harry smiled. "A flight would do us good, do you have any place in particular you want to go?"

Chekiath eyed Harry thoughtfully for a moment, his eyes streaked with shades of blue. _"__Minnewanka__ Weyr,"_ he announced suddenly, "I think we should go visit the Starsmith and the Historian tonight."

Harry blinked in surprise. "Erm, well alright, do you want to go, just the two of us?"

Chekiath shook his head. _"No, we should bring our consorts and since we're planning on arriving unannounced we should __also __bring dinner."_

Harry nodded uncertainly, "I'll call the girls and ask Dobby to pack a dinner for five."

Hours later Harry sipped his coffee in the small cabin that Mildred and Remus shared when they were visiting Minnewanka Weyr. It was still cold in the mountains and the peaks were covered in snow. Normally they would have taken advantage of the large deck that encircled the house, but given the weather everyone was enjoying a roaring fire in the cozy livingroom.

Minnewanka would soon host a world class telescope. Construction on the scope and the building to house it was proceeding to plan. Unlike so many other Weyrs, Minnewanka didn't start out as an air strip, instead it was totally new construction funded by the Canadian government and it was a strange looking place.

The observatory with the traditional dome roof on a nearby mountain top was nearly complete. There had been some delays in the construction of the telescope, but now it was being installed and the finishing touches made to the building housing it. Four miles away, and down the mountain the Weyr had already built a research complex containing the control building for the telescope once it was operational. Near the control building were a university grade laboratory, class rooms and dormitory buildings.

Near the control building were a dozen small telescopes used by the student riders. The professional four meter reflector telescope would be the centerpiece of the installation and was expected to be operational within a few months. The lack of the main telescope didn't stop the Weyr however, they were already producing hard science by joining the effort to find Near Earth Objects using the smaller sixteen inch telescopes.

The Weyr proper had four blocks of dragon apartments and two more still under construction. Hangar sized buildings for the non-bonded dragons rounded out the unusual mix of buildings. A number of A frame and ranch style houses dotted the Weyr providing specialized housing for The Weyrleader and important guests.

Harry had appointed Mildred Lupin as the Observatory director. Officially all classes at the facility were now accredited by Cambridge University, and Mildred was listed as member of the faculty. Harry had agreed that Cambridge would be allowed to send forty under graduate students and twenty graduate students to the facility per semester with the Weyr providing transportation. A dormitory had been set up for their use.

Remus and Mildred had a small cabin near the control building. Mildred would often spend her time there, or in the nearby classrooms where she was teaching astronomy, physics and mathematics to the riders and loving every minute of it. When she was at Campbeltown she would still be able to access and monitor the telescope via the Weyr network.

Harry leaned back in his chair and patted his belly thinking that he'd need to double his morning run. Despite the meal, and many like it, thanks to Dobby, he was still rail thin. "So I take it you are finding everything to your liking here Mildred?"

Mildred looked up from her plate and smiled. "Harry, short of a posting at a major observatory, there was no way I could have this kind of access. Before being tapped to visit your Weyr as part of that NASA team I spent my days looking over data from the Hubble telescope, but I would be lucky if I could get thirty minutes of directed observations in a year. Now I can teach and do my own research without having to worry about my bosses wondering if I'm doing what I'm supposed to do."

Mildred glanced over at her husband and smiled tenderly. "The Weyr has opened a whole host of opportunities that were beyond all of my dreams," she said softly.

Harry smiled at the woman he had come to admire greatly. She had been part of a NASA team sent to investigate the dragons and the Weyr had ended up stealing her away from NASA and America. To her own surprise, she had found love and someone to share her passion for knowledge in Remus Lupin.

Remus smiled and touched her hand, he too had been changed by the dragons in ways he never dreamed about.

"How are your classes going? I remember Hogwarts holding their astronomy class in the middle of the night, but it seems like the classrooms here are all shut down," Harry said.

Mildred chuckled. "Harry, no one teaches astronomy like that anymore. The observatory is fully computerized. Even while some students man the telescopes at night, most of the observations are recorded digitally and examined during the day time. In fact, tonight will be the first time we'll be holding a Weyr wide event that should see most, if not all of our students show us."

Harry exchanged a curious glance with May and Hermione before turning back to Mildred. He didn't know anything about any event and neither did they. "What kind of event Mildred?"

"Tonight we expect the first of the Lyrid meteor showers to begin," she replied.

At Harry's confused look she realized that she had better explain what she meant. "You know what a meteor is right? A rock from outer space that usually burns up in the atmosphere, shooting stars?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I've never seen one, but I've read about them."

"The Lyrid meteor shower is called that because it seems to come from the constellation Lyra. In truth the shower is a remnant of a comet's tail. As the comet makes it's approach, the tail extends outward from the comet containing small particles the size of grains of sand up to a basketball. Each year the Earth passes through the remnants of the tail from many comets. Tonight is expected to be the start of the shower, about one in the morning local time. I expect most of my students will be out in the field behind the control building with their personal telescopes and cameras." she explained.

Harry's brow furrowed in a gesture that both May and Hermione had come to recognize very well. He was very interested in this meteor shower, but then, so were both girls.

"Harry?" Hermione said.

He turned from Mildred and looked at her. "Why not? It's a Friday night. Neither of you have school tomorrow." Both girls were coming down to the end of their time at school.

Both girls nodded and Harry turned back to Mildred. "There, it's all settled, we'll stay and watch the shooting stars with you guys."

Remus chuckled and stood. "I'll call Arron and have him set up cabin for you three."

Harry watched Remus leave the room, then he turned back to Mildred. "Something has been puzzling me Mildred and maybe you can help me understand it."

"Oh?"

"The dragons are adamant that the red star was the source of Pern's thread, but that couldn't be possible could it? I mean wouldn't a star moving through the solar system cause more disruption than that?" he asked.

Mildred smiled. "I don't think they really meant a star in the usual sense of the term. Momnarth, Norendrath and Dronth have all showed me enough memories that I think I can safely say that the colonists on Pern quickly lost much of their technology and science. Remus and I have reviewed a great many memories and we concluded that the colonists had fallen to a pre-industrial stage similar to what we experienced at the start of the Renaissance age."

"The colonists were capable of producing iron tools and some of the simpler steels," Remus added from the doorway. "But there was no sign of any advanced technology or even a hint of understanding advanced concepts. It's one of the reasons why Issac is more confident about pregnant riders going Between. We have better ways of monitoring both the mother and the child than the colonists did."

Mildred pointed a finger skyward, "To our Earthly ancestors, Mars appeared to be a reddish star in the night sky. It wasn't until Galileo turned his telescope skyward that we discovered that some of the 'stars' in our night sky were actually planets.

"Sidraneth came from a later period where the colonists had relapsed into a feudal society with guilds, peasants and the economy was mostly agricultural in nature. That implies a lot of technology and basic science had been lost by the colonists. What would have been known by the original colonists would have faded as information became lost. Why they lost those memories is a mystery, but something obviously caused them to either abandon or lose the technology they brought with them.

"And that brings us all back to your original question Harry. In all likelihood the red star is a large body that was captured when it wandered too close to the Pern system. It's likely that it's either a planet or a dwarf planet. I really doubt it's a true star of any kind."

"But, how can a planet cause thread?" blurted May.

Mildred smiled, "That is the big question. I suppose the easiest answer would be if the red star was dragging thread from some source much like the tail of a comet. The problem is that thread is alive, for all we know it has some way of ejecting itself from the surface of the red star, or perhaps it lives in the atmosphere? Short of going there and seeing it for ourselves we'll never know. We know that life exists outside of our own planet, but besides dragons, we have never seen any. And the dragons were engineered by man."

Harry leaned back in his chair and considered her words. "So the red star, which isn't a star, might not really be the source of thread, just the agent that delivers it to Pern?"

Mildred nodded with a large smile then she glanced at her watch. "There's still two hours before the meteor shower is to begin, but I'm giving an hour long lecture in the lecture hall next to the control building. One of the things we'll be discussing is how objects can be dragged along in the wake of a larger object. Why don't you join us? I'm sure by now a great many of our students are already there waiting."

Harry looked at May and Hermione who nodded, so he stood and helped Hermione and May to stand. "Why not?" May said in reply, "It'll make a break from basic dragon anatomy."

"Or contract law," Hermione added.

Harry just shook his head and followed his wives as they left the cabin.

**Condron Weyr, New Mexico, July 31st 2004...**

_I hate this heat,_ Skip Taylor thought in annoyance. He peeled out of his heavy flight jacket and looked down the the flight suit that was soaked in sweat. The Weyr had just returned from a long day helping the dragons in Washington state improve their Weyr. The temperature there had been mild and comfortable, but just the short amount of time needed to land and reach his quarters was enough to soak him to the bone.

Kat glanced over at him with a fond smile. "Someone needs a shower," she said.

He looked up and grinned. "Join me?" He replied hopefully.

Kat chuckled and shook her head. "We can't. You know we have a meeting tonight after dinner. The entire Weyr will be there."

Seeing his disappointed look she quickly added, "Hold that thought tiger and we'll have plenty of time after the meeting for that."

Skip's expression brightened and he continued to strip down. Kat watched him intently as he walked into the bathroom to take his shower. She sighed and wished duty didn't come first.

An hour later they walked into the mess hall for dinner. The Weyr would be having an extended meeting tonight as they discussed the possibility of opening the Weyr at Mt. Hood as a manned Weyr. There were a number of obstacles to overcome, including the fact that a road would have be built to connect the Weyr with the nearby towns, and buildings would have to be built.

There were two other unmanned Weyrs still in the continental United States, one in Washington state, not far from Mt. Hood and the other up in Alaska sited on the edge of a glacier called Knik glacier. Knik Glacier had been turned down by Harry as a possible manned Weyr due to it's location. Both Weyrs were very remote, but unlike the Weyr near Mt. Hood, Knik Glacier posed additional problems which Harry felt made that Weyr too inhospitable for people.

Mount Hood needed a lot of work before they could turn it into a real manned Weyr, but today's effort was focused on improving the basic dragon Weyrs and surveying the land around the Weyr itself.

Skip and Kat felt that it was time for Condron to fully contribute like Campbeltown had been doing. Condron's population currently topped over six hundred dragon riders, and like Campbeltown, Skip wanted to send a division to start another manned Weyr. Campbeltown had started two Weyrs like that, including Shetland Weyr and were considering another in the near future.

Thanks to Kat's business acumen, Condron had ample funds to start a new Weyr, even if it meant paying for a road to be built.

Skip and Kat sat with Jasper and his wife during dinner and they talked about what they needed to do. Kat offered to write up a plan which they could present to Harry for his approval.

Skip looked down at his empty plate, then he pushed his chair out from the table. "Reckon it's time to get this show on the road," he murmured with a wry grin, then he stood and walked to the front of the room where a podium had been placed for his use. The mess hall at Condron, unlike Campbeltown, was capable of seating seven hundred and fifty people, so there was ample room for everyone.

Kat hurried to join him and a number of the riders snickered. Kat practically needed three steps for every one of Skip's; so it always appeared as if she was scurrying behind him.

Skip smiled at Kat as she hurried up to stand next to him. He wasn't about to start without her, besides, she had all the notes that they needed to go over.

"Evening Riders," Skip said jovially. "Now that we're all fed and cleaned up from a busy day at Mt. Hood, it's time for us to talk about what we need to do to convert Mt. Hood to a manned Weyr. Each of you were tasked with taking notes about things that needed to be done to turn the Weyr into a manned Weyr. Over the coming days we'll be taking those ideas and consolidating it into a plan..."

The front gates of Condron Weyr were opened by the marine guards and a Condron security hummvee met the first vehicle of the convoy, neatly slotting in front of it. Vehicle lights were extinguished at the gate as they were led into the Weyr proper. The marines stepped back into their air conditioned guard shack to escape the dust thrown up by the heavy military vehicles.

Twenty Abrams tanks and another twenty armored personnel carriers slowly made their way around the Weyr. With all of the riders at the meeting and most of the dragons resting in their personal weyrs, no one noticed the small convoy entering the Weyr for several crucial minutes.

Skip nodded to Kat and stepped to one side. She stepped onto the small step behind the podium and glanced down at her notes. "Alright, starting from the top, personnel allocations. At first I thought we would send Division Six to start the new Weyr, but Skip wants to give people a choice. So while Div. Six is slated to go to Mt. Hood, you have nearly a year to make up your mind and transfer into or out of Div. Six. As a new Weyr there will be new needs and new positions that will need to be filled, some of those positions won't exist here at Condron because of our location..."

Kat paused in her talk when she suddenly realized that the dragons of the Weyr were bellowing in alarm and fear.

"_Bad machines!"_ shouted Menth, Skip's dragon. _"Bad machines!"_

The door to the back of the mess hall smashed open and twenty fully armed marines surged into the room.

"Everybody freeze!" shouted one of the marines.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" shouted one of the riders near the door.

A nearby marine pointed a gun in the riders face and he shrank back. Once all of the marines had entered an officer entered with a clipboard. He looked around for a moment, then he pointed at Kat. "Her," he said.

Two marines ran forward only run into Skip who moved to protect his wife. Skip tackled one man to the ground, his fellow marine turned and hit Skip in the head with the butt of his weapon. Skip slumped to the floor in a daze and bleeding heavily from a nasty gash in his head.

"Skip!" shouted Kat, she reached for her wand when a single shot rang out in the building causing her, and many others to freeze.

The marine that hit Skip turned and pulled her wand out of her hand, then he snapped it in two. Around the room Condron's witches and wizards were disarmed and their wands destroyed.

By now all of the dragons of Condron were airborne, but they were terrified for their riders. A large number of the machines were clustered around the mess hall, keeping the riders from leaving and the dragons knew from experience that those machines could kill dragons; that meant they could kill their riders even easier than dragons. It wasn't just the machines that prevented the dragons from acting. Each dragon knew the Mess Hall was full of soldiers armed with dangerous weapons.

Kat was pushed to the ground and a pair of handcuffs was slapped on her wrists. She looked across the floor in anguish at her injured husband. Skip seemed unconscious, but the blood soaking him made him appear far worse than he actually was. She rolled over and sat up with some difficulty, then she looked around. Condron's nearly one hundred wizards had all been disarmed and handcuffed.

Colonel Peters stepped into the room and smirked. He had been working towards this moment since he was first posted to this god forsaken location. "Ladies and gentlemen, the government of the United States has decided that you are not doing your country any good by denying us the use of your dragons. Therefore we have decided to nationalize your group. You are now part of the US Military," he announced.

"Screw you asshole," someone shouted from the rear of the hall.

The officer frowned, but he didn't see who shouted that.

Kat hung her head, looking defeated. _"Lokith love, __take __the dragons __and__flee to the old Weyr__ and contact The Weyrleader, tell him what is happening here. __If humans come to the old Weyr, go to Campbeltown,__"_ she sent silently.

"_Skip is hurt,"_ complained Lokith. _"This is not right, if we attack they will use their machines to kill you. Should we attack?"_

"_No! Do not attack, but do not let anyone other than a rider approach any dragon for now. I'm afraid Skip will have to wait for now. I don't think he's hurt too bad. Now please __love__, contact The Weyrleader,"_ she pleaded.

"_I will! I will tell the world!"_ Lokith replied. Outside a thousand dragons vanished to the consternation of the marines. What use was taking over the Weyr if the dragons disappeared?

Kat breathed a sigh of relief then she looked up, a quick message via Lokith had two riders who were not in cuffs moving to check on Skip. She watched unhappily from her spot on the floor and shivered, she didn't know what tomorrow would bring but she hoped it wouldn't bring war.

A man ran into the room and whispered something to Peters who glared at him for a moment before turning to Kat. "Where are the dragons?" he said angrily.

"Out of your reach you bastard," she muttered in reply.

**Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, August 1st 2004... **

"_Weyrleader, we need you! Help us!"_

Harry's eyes jerked open and he peered around in the darkness. The digital wall clock read barely two in the morning and he had been asleep for only about an hour. Hermione and May had decided last night to surprise him for his birthday. Normally only one girl would be present when anything sort of sexual activity occurred, but for his birthday both girls decided to do something different.

Hermione and May had both told him in no uncertain terms that their activity would not become a regular part of their love lives.

Now, just over an hour from when he finally fell asleep, he was awake and suddenly anxious that something was seriously wrong.

"_Weyrleader, we need you,"_ repeated the voice urgently in his mind.

Harry slowly sat up and tried to shake off the sluggish feeling he had from not enough sleep. _"Who's calling me?"_ he replied silently.

"_I'm calling you Weyrleader, Lokith."_

Lokith was Kat Taylor's dragon, she was Skip's wife and co-weyrleader of Condron Weyr in the state of New Mexico, USA.

Harry slid over May sliding out without disturbing his wife. Hermione had figured out he was using his magic to partially levitate himself as he got out of bed. He stood and hastily put on a pair of boxers despite the fact that the dragon calling him was more than three thousand miles away.

"Lokith, what is wrong? Where is your rider Kat?" he said aloud.

Both girls stirred in the bed and Hermione opened her eyes to look at him with a questioning expression.

"_All of the riders were attending a meeting tonight, then some men came in dangerous machines and they are holding our riders prisoner. Kat told me to contact you. Menth is trying to keep the Weyr from attacking these men. Menth wants to attack, but Kat has ordered us not to. Skip is hurt and Menth isn't thinking well. Kat thinks Skip isn't hurt bad, but Menth can't hear his rider. Kat told me to not attack the machines, so far the dragons are listening to me, but Menth is confusing them. Kat ordered us to escape to the old Weyr, but Menth wants to return to Condron and attack the bad men."_

Harry swore softly, then he stumbled towards a small night table and flipped on the light. He sat in a chair next to the table. "Lokith, is anyone else hurt?"

"_No __Weyrleader __not yet__, but there are a great many angry and frightened dragons. Our riders are in danger. There are many of those __bad__ tank things here,"_ replied Lokith.

From the other room Harry could clearly hear his dragon hissing in anger. _"__Menth you will calm yourself,"_ Chekiath said in a voice that literally boomed with power and authority. Lokith was clearly having trouble reassuring her mate and controlling the dragons of her Weyr.

Chekiath's command literally shook the Weyr awake. It was impossible to miss the sounds of dragons being awoken by the largest dragon on the planet.

"Dammit," Harry muttered, Chekiath's command was heard across the globe. Weyrs around the planet were now asking what was going on. May and Hermione climbed out of the bed, they didn't know what was happening, but it was serious, whatever it was.

Harry reached with his power and his eyes glazed. _"Quiet!"_ he commanded. His command was picked up by every dragon and rider on the planet, including Condron. Instantly the dragons settled down. _"There is an emergency at Condron Weyr. All Weyrs are to report to Campbeltown __immediately__. We will go together to aid our brothers. __Condron __dragons __obey Lokith and do not attack anyone unless you are defending yourselves or your riders.__"_

Harry sighed and relaxed slightly, releasing his power so that he was only talking to one dragon, then in a calmer tone he said, _"Lokith, tell everyone to remain calm __and follow Kat's orders. __Tell Kat that we are coming in force, but we'll try for a diplomatic solution first.__"_

"_Yes Weyrleader, thank you."_

Harry reached for the phone and pressed a number that was preprogrammed into the unit. He had to let it ring eight times before someone picked up.

"Hullo?"

"James? Are you awake?"

In his house on the Isle of Arran, Lord James Mills, British government liaison to the British Weyrs sat up in his bed and glanced at his clock. "Harry, do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked.

"Babies and political crises pick their own time James," Harry replied. "I'm calling to inform you that the American government has moved troops and tanks into Condron Weyr. I have been informed that my riders are being held at gunpoint in the Weyr's main dining hall. Skip Taylor has been injured, but how bad I don't know yet. Very shortly I will be taking the dragons to America."

"What?" James exclaimed, then he sat up in his bed and glanced at his clock. It was too early in the morning for a crisis like this!

Harry nodded to May and Hermione who were quickly getting dressed.

"You heard me James, there are tanks at Condron and my people are in danger. I don't know what the Yanks think they are doing but I intend to put a stop to it. I'm only calling you as a courtesy so that you can inform your government," Harry said flatly.

"What are you planning on doing Harry?" James asked with a bit of fear.

Harry smiled evilly. "Well my first thought was to try a tried and true technique that worked so well at Lac Logipi. But instead I'm going to try the dragon version of gunboat diplomacy James and if that doesn't work, then the dragons and I will have to teach the Yanks that dragons make terrible enemies."

"Harry don't do anything stupid," James warned.

"James I have people to protect and America has for one reason or another decided, to put them in danger. All I can promise is that I will free my riders. I don't want to fight anyone, but if I have to, we will," Harry said in a hard voice, then his expression softened. "James, your government has given me some of the best training available in diplomacy. Trust that I've learned when to show the big stick as opposed to actually using it."

The line went silent for a moment, then Harry heard James sigh heavily. "Very well Harry, do be careful."

"We will James, that I can promise."

Harry hung up the phone and quickly started to get dressed. Once he was dressed he dialed another number on his phone. "Ronan, it's Harry. Look we have a big problem in America. I need a list of every Air Force base in that country as well as the nearest jump images we can get from the Jump book."

He listened for a moment longer. "Right, meet me in my office in fifteen minutes. Oh and have the watch wing leader open the armory. Tell them to get ready to issue full kits. I want everyone armed."

Harry hung up the phone and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. Both girls exchanged a look, the Harry they knew so well was quickly vanishing as the Weyrleader put his working face on. They were the only ones that got to see the man behind the mask. They loved Harry without reservation, but both knew better to question him while he was dealing with issues like this. Neither girl was greatly worried, they were confident that Harry would solve the problem. The only real worry was that someone outside of their control would make a mistake and worsen the situation.

"Cheki, assemble the Weyr, have everyone get their kit and assemble in front of Hangar three," Harry commanded, then he resumed dressing.

"_I'll tell them. The unmanned Weyrs are already arriving. __I expect the manned Weyrs will be here in half hour,__"_ Cheki replied.

In his home on the Isle of Arran James tried to shake the grogginess from his head, then he paused. "Gunboat diplomacy?" he whispered. "Oh lord," he muttered, then he reached for the phone again. It was time to inform Her Majesty's government of the crisis developing in New Mexico. The US was famous for employing gunboat diplomacy against other nations, but rarely had someone pulled the same stunt back on them.

**The White House, Washington DC, August 1st 2004...**

The secret service agent was beyond bored. He had drawn the early morning radio shift in the command center, down the hall from the Oval Office. As jobs went, it was one of the most mind numbing jobs an agent can draw. Every thirty minutes he'd pick up his microphone and contact each of the on duty stations to get a situation report and so far the night and morning had been normal. Nothing was happening, nothing.

He glanced up at the clock then reached for his microphone. "Command center to Command One, sitrep."

Four agents normally escorted the President from the residence down to his office, but this morning the senior agent in charge of the detail had decided to join the escort.

"Oilbottom is finishing breakfast and preparing to leave the residence for the office. We'll be moving in five minutes," came the reply over his headset.

The agent smirked to himself. Each president had a nickname which the Secret Service tried to keep secret. It was rarely a complimentary name, but the names picked weren't meant to be insults either.

"Acknowledged. Gate One, Command Center, sitrep."

"Gate One, all is quiet and we're out of coffee damnit! Oh and the morning paper is late again."

The agent chuckled at the reply.

"Knock it off," Command One ordered almost instantly over the radio. As the agent in charge of this shift he wanted to make sure they remained professional in everything they did.

The agent in the center shook his head. Command One was a stickler for details and it showed in how he handled his shift.

"Skyeye One, sitrep," the agent called.

Silence. After a minute the agent removed his headphones and toggled a wall speaker, just on the off chance that his headphones had failed. He placed the headphones on the desk.

The agent frowned and re-keyed his microphone. "Skyeye One, sitrep."

Skyeye One was a rooftop position on one of the opposing buildings across the avenue. Two men were stationed there day and night, no matter the weather all year long. They were heavily armed with professional sniper rifles and handheld anti-air missiles.

The agent reached out and grabbed a joystick to slew a camera around to face Skyeye One. The monitor image slewed to match the moving camera until the corner of the building came into view. No one was visible, but that wasn't really unusual. The camera was mounted at position that would only show Skyeye One if they were standing up.

Had the camera been an infra-red camera, the agent would have clearly seen the heat sources of two dragons sitting on the roof, growling at the terrified security agents who were laying face down on the roof.

"Skyeye Two can you see Skyeye One from your position?"

Again there was only silence. The agent repeated his call twice more, then he keyed his microphone again. There was a plan for this sort of situation and he knew it by heart.

"All stations, attack warning! Skyeyes One and Two are not responding. Repeat attack warning."

He released the microphone and slammed a hand down on a large panic button mounted next to his desk. Instantly automatic messages were sent to Andrews Air Force base summoning Marine One, the presidential helicopter. The agent could hear men in the ready room shouting to each other as they raced to grab weapons from the equipment locker.

Around the White House secret service agents scrambled to cover the exits while another dozen agents joined the team led by Command One moved to escort the President to safety. The priority had suddenly shifted from escorting the president to his office to evacuating him and his family to a secure location. Regular employees and members of the White House staff moved quickly and quietly to their assigned emergency stations. A second team of secret service agents would be summoned from the Treasury Building to help evacuate the non-essential personnel.

Alarms could be heard throughout the building and outside local DC police responded in accordance to the previously conceived plans. The DC police would handle the crowds outside while the Secret Service would secure the building and evacuate the President. The ever present press immediately noted the change to the sleepy morning routine. They couldn't miss the sound of police sirens as every available police car turned and sped towards the White House.

"Command Center, Gate One, dragons! Dragons on the lawn! Dear god there are dozens of them in sight!"

The agent monitoring the radios stared up at the speaker on the wall in confusion. He didn't bother reaching for his plan book. Dragons were not included in his book and no one thought to include them. This was a situation that no one had thought of.

"Gate One repeat your last message?" the agent said nervously.

"You heard me Mark! Dragons. Three dragons have landed on the lawn and from my position I can see at least a hundred more, some airborne and some sitting on the rooftops! We have several dragons blocking the main driveway and the service driveway. A couple of dragons have crushed several DCPD patrol cars."

Dragons really didn't like automobiles and this time they had The Weyrleader's permission to flatten any car or truck that pulled up to the building. Harry had warned them to make sure the vehicles were empty, but that was his only restriction.

"What are the three on the lawn doing?"

"Their riders have dismounted and one of them is talking to a reporter through the fence. There are some TV camera crews setting up. The other two are walking this way."

"Oh shit," muttered the agent. If the press were already involved this was not going to go over well with the Boss.

"Command Center, one of the riders has just handed me a note asking to meet with POTUS concerning an issue of urgent mutual interest." the speaker blared again.

The door to the center opened and Command One entered. He looked deeply troubled. "Andrews reports a cover of dragons are preventing Marine One from taking off. The alternative at Quantico is also unable to take off. There are reports of dragons taking up positions at the capital building, the Supreme Court, the Pentagon and Andrews Air Force base. Even NAS Norfolk is reporting dragons on the runways. The Boss says that since he can't be evacuated, he might as well talk to them."

Thirty minutes later Harry and Ronan Clark were escorted into the Oval Office. Both had left their cross bows attached to their saddle harness and Harry had even left his wand in his saddle bag. Harry didn't mind disarming if it helped demonstrate that the dragons had no ill intentions, besides he always had his wandless magic to fall back on if need be.

The president looked up from his desk at the two men and his eyes narrowed. As far as he was concerned these dragon riders had committed an act of aggression against him, the leader of the free world!

The fact that he didn't stand and greet them wasn't lost on Harry. "It's customary to make an appointment, even for heads of state," President Bush said grumpily.

"It's also customary to follow due process before you arrest an entire Weyr's worth of riders using your military forces so don't act like you're the injured party here because you're not," Harry shot back. Harry placed both hands on the President's desk and leaned forward. Suddenly the president realized that by not standing up, he had allowed a shorter person to loom over him. "Now I have to ask you sir," Harry said evenly. "Is it your intention to declare war on the Weyrs? Is America prepared to go to war with dragon kind?"

President Bush blinked in surprise both at Harry's tone and at his statement. "What the blazes are you talking about?" he said, trying to stall.

"_Harry, he knows __what you're talking about__,"_ Chekiath announced. Bush's eyes bulged in his head as he heard Chekiath's telepathic pronouncement.

"I'm talking about the forty tanks and armored personnel carriers that entered Condron Weyr last night and confined all my riders in the Weyr to one building, claiming they were now part of the US Military. The only thing that is stopping the dragons from destroying that force to rescue their riders is my order. My dragons already have permission to attack if anyone attempts to move any of our riders from the Weyr."

Harry paused and took a deep breath. "I am going to be blunt Mr. President. Right now your skies have thousands of dragons overhead and you are only moments from us destroying every airbase in this country. After your airbases are destroyed we'll hit every army and navy base and then we'll really get mad. So far no one on your side has gotten hurt. But if anyone is going to be hurt, it's not going to be just the dragons and their riders."

Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm his anger. It was important that he didn't allow his anger to run away here. "We can settle this easily without any bloodshed sir, order your military forces to withdraw from our territory. Once your people have left I'll order our dragons out of the country. Of course that will also mean we'll cancel our commercial contracts with every American company and add America to our list of banned nations, but it is better than a war, especially since you're already involved in a un-winnable war overseas."

Harry smirked as Bush paled and shot to his feet. "Now lets not be hasty! I never ordered anyone to use tanks at the Weyr!"

"Convenient phrasing Mister President, but if you truly had no idea what your people were up to, then this has all been a terrible misunderstanding. Pick up your phone and order your forces to leave our territory and we'll be on our way," Harry said softly with a smug smirk. "Of course we'll also expect to see a very public trial of someone that clearly has usurped your authority."

Bush scowled, in truth he had known about the action which had been suggested by the head of the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security had pointed out that the dragons were a resource that was being denied to them and the government needed to exert their authority over the dragon riders. Bush had thought he meant to press for a change in the Weyr's treaty now that it had a home grown, American Weyrleader.

Harry moved over to a comfortable chair and sat, then he motioned for Ronan to sit also. He turned back to the president who was staring out the window. Traffic was at a stand still on Pennsylvania avenue. Besides the dragons on the lawn, there were a number of dragons and riders visible out on the street, mingling with and talking to curious citizens and press.

"In case you're wondering, the rider talking to your press is Lee Jordan, Campbeltown Weyr's Public Affairs Officer. I told him to speak with the press and explain why we were here. I have no doubt at this point that your news agencies are already sending camera crews to Condron Weyr," Harry said softly. He ignored Bush's flinch. He let the man sweat for a moment longer before continuing, "Now why don't we really discuss why there are tanks at my weyr?"

President Bush tore his gaze away from the window and faced the two riders. "It was suggested to me that the Weyr could provide more assistance in our anti-terrorism efforts by our head of Homeland Security. He never mentioned using force of any kind."

Harry leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "And so you decided to violate a brand new treaty that the United States had with the Weyr, guaranteeing the Weyr autonomy and acknowledging the Weyr's strict policy of neutrality? Not exactly an honorable action Mr. President," Harry chided. "My tutors in diplomacy used your Indian treaties as examples of nations breaking their promises and then they claimed you had grown past that. I'll have to tell my tutors that they are wrong, American hasn't grown past breaking their promises."

Bush flushed and his expression hardened. "Really Weyrleader, and yet here you are threatening me and my country."

Harry waved a hand dismissing the President's complaint. "I wouldn't be here at all, had you not listened to bad advice sir," he replied. "Let me offer you a solution that gives you a way of saving grace. Remove your forces and sack the people that brought idea to you. Admit to the press that the idea was ill conceived and you've taken steps to correct the problem."

Bush scowled, such a public admission would have serious repercussions on his administration and his reelection efforts.

"And if I refuse?"

Harry tilted his head slightly. "You are aware that I can order our dragons to attack without using any sort of phone or radio? You do understand that if I do this, dragons will leave America after turning the runways of every one of your air bases into a glowing puddle of slag. And that damage will be on top of nearly a quarter billion dollars of commercial contracts that we will be forced to cancel. My people do not have any loyalty to your government, but they do consider America to be their home and do not want to leave their home. They will however leave if I order it and right now I'm seriously considering it.

"The world press already know that you have injured one of my riders and taken an entire Weyr hostage, soon they'll be broadcasting that to the world. Soon they will be broadcasting images from Condron Weyr proving to the world that you don't take your own promises seriously. The world will know of your illegal seizure one way or the other. I daresay most countries would consider our response subdued and appropriate."

"Just the effort to remove thousands of tons of ever glowing concrete will take years and the heat will probably make most of your air bases uninhabitable," Ronan added softly.

"I don't want to take this action Mr. President, I don't like being forced to threaten you. I had hoped that America would be a stable partner like our British friends. There are any number of nations who would love to host a Weyr and enjoy the economic benefits that come from having dragons within their borders. You stand to lose more than the ability of your country to launch your planes sir. If we are forced to move from America you will go on our banned list. We will not provide Hot Rocks or partner with any American companies. We couldn't risk it because we knew you couldn't be trusted. As it stands it will take a great deal of effort on your part to regain the trust you lost by this action."

"We have enough oil to supply ourselves for years," Bush countered.

"You do," Harry replied in agreement, "But you'll also have to explain to your people why they are paying for expensive oil and ruining their natural environment with messy oil wells while your neighbors to the north and south are enjoying the benefits of cheap dragon produced power."

"And you'll have to explain to Exxon, Coleman, Ford Aerospace, Boeing and dozens of other companies why we've had to back out of our contracts with them," Ronan added making Harry grateful that he had brought Ronan along.

The phone rang and Bush picked it up and listened for a moment. "Alright, thank you," he said, then he placed the phone back into it's cradle. "That was the Chairman of our Joint Chiefs, calling to tell me that the air force is unable to get any aircraft into the air."

Harry suppressed the urge to smirk. "I wasn't kidding when I said your skies are full of dragons. There are nearly thirteen thousand dragons filling your skies at the moment. If I wanted to I could have them destroy every plane they find."

Bush sagged heavily in his chair and looked at Harry. "You have us at a disadvantage Weyrleader. I'm told that one of your dragons is currently sunning itself on top of Air Force One. So what do you want?"

Harry smiled softly, he knew Luna had mentioned wanting to see the Presidential aircraft, but he didn't expect them to relax on top of it. He turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand and then he leaned forward in his chair. "I will tell you what I don't want. I don't want to fight you or your country. If it came to that you'd lose and we'd probably take heavy losses. What I want is for you to uphold your end of the treaty we signed, respect our autonomy and neutrality and we'll be happily help your nation with what we can offer. Release my people and withdraw your forces from my Weyr. The Weyr will assume responsibility for it's own security from now on. Dragon Services Limited will also assume full control over the Condron research complex. We'll allow you to conduct your research, as long as it's not for military weapons use and monitored by people we trust.

"Sir, all we want is to be treated as equal economic partners. In return for respecting our wish to remain neutral the Weyr will continue to supply Hot Rocks and continue to work with American companies as we have been. I'll even willingly attend a press conference with you to smooth over this mess. The issue of your advisors is really your problem. As long as they keep out of the Weyr I don't care if you sack them or not."

Bush stared at Harry for a long drawn out minute. Harry stared back unflinchingly and resisted the urge to smile at the man. The dragons had clearly won this round because they had been underestimated. Bush fought to suppress a shiver, he wasn't sure now that America's military could take on the dragons, they had effectively grounded America's air force without firing a single shot. This was a political nightmare of the highest order and America's enemies would do their best to take advantage of this!

Finally Bush looked away and pressed a button on his phone.

"Sir?" said a voice from the speaker.

"Inform Scott that we'll be holding an impromptu press conference on the White House lawn in two hours, then get me the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and then call Secretary Ridge and make an appointment for him to see me this afternoon. I don't care what he has planned, he's to see me this afternoon," Bush said.

"Yes sir."

Bush released the button on the phone and looked at Harry as if to say, "What now?"

Harry smiled and relaxed for the first time in hours. "Sir, I think that we could avoid a lot of misunderstanding in the future if you would just take the time to get to know the dragons and their riders. The Weyrleaders of Condron Weyr would be eager to help you with that."

Ronan winced and knew Harry was going to have to some fast talking when they got to the Weyr. Kat Taylor probably wanted to roast the president over a low fire for hurting Skip. What Ronan overlooked was Harry's anger towards the Condron Weyrleaders. Someone at Condron had goofed and allowed an entire Weyr to be taken by surprise.

Three hours later an exhausted Campbeltown Weyr appeared in the skies over Condron Weyr. The Condron dragons had returned to the Weyr several hours earlier at an order from Harry and were all lined up waiting for the The Weyrleader. Harry had sent all the other Weyrs home with his thanks. The results of today would be the number one topic at the next Weyrleaders meeting.

The dragons below reared up on their haunches and bellowed a relieved welcome. Harry ordered the divisions to land while he circled overhead. He couldn't see any sign of the tanks, but the marks on the roads indicated some heavy equipment had moved over them.

"_The machines are north Harry,"_ Chekiath said. His eyesight was far superior to Harry's so he wasn't about to question it.

"What are they doing?"

Chekiath turned north and started a shallow descent. _"I think they are leaving. There are a great many people putting the machines onto trucks."_

Harry pulled out his binoculars and looked along the road until he spotted the large truck convoy loading the tanks and personnel carriers onto special flat bed trucks. "Yeah, they are leaving all right, we've seen our British Army neighbors using similar trucks to move that stuff. Let's get back to Condron," he said.

Chekiath banked hard and Harry leaned against the bank as the dragon turned away from the military convoy assembling on the highway.

A few minutes later Harry dropped to the tarmac at Condron Weyr. The Condron riders and their dragons were arrayed in division order with the Campbeltown divisions close by. A hush fell until the only sound came from the hum of nearby air conditioning units and the sound of the hot wind that blew across the wide open tarmac.

The Condron riders stood near their dragons and watched Harry with no small amount of trepidation.

Harry slowly looked around as he took off his gloves and riding cap. Many of the Condron riders noted Harry's grim expression, usually when he came to Condron he was smiling and happy, but not today. More than a few shivered in fear and wondered how things would change for Condron now.

"_They are worried __and shamed__,"_ Chekiath said privately, as if he was trying to explain the uneasy silence that filled the Weyr once Harry had alighted. _"I think they feel like they have failed you and their Weyr."_

Harry snorted to himself and shook his head, it was an attitude he was intimately familiar with. Skip and Kat stood nervously near Ronan, Lee, Sirius and Draco. Harry absently noted both Hermione and May were behind that group. He didn't mind their presence now that the primary crisis was over.

Skip had a large bandage on his forehead and one eye was visibly blackened and swollen. Harry stepped up to the pair and his eyes briefly glanced up to the bandage on Skip's forehead, then he looked at the pair. "Are you alright?" he asked Skip.

Skip relaxed slightly. "I've got a headache the size of Texas," he admitted. "I tried to stop a marine from taking Kat's wand and got a rifle butt for my effort."

Harry nodded, his lips pressed together in a thin tight line then he turned to Kat. "Skip is grounded until he's cleared for flight operations by Doctor Wilson."

"Of course Harry," Kat said immediately, it was clearly an order that she wasn't going to question.

Harry grunted softly, then he turned to look at the riders assembled nearby. He cast a wandless amplifying charm on himself. "This Weyr, and all Weyrs across the planet, have learned a valuable lesson today. Your host country thought that they could appeal to your patriotism and love of your birth country to violate your sacred duty to your dragon and the Weyr that supports you. They thought that you could be forced to do their bidding, either willingly, or under threat of harm to your fellow riders and dragons.

"Condron taught the world that each Weyr is just the tip of an iceberg. That threats to one Weyr will invoke the wrath of all Weyrs. Each of you could have been released just by agreeing to help them, but you held fast. You proved to yourselves and the world that you are dragon riders, no matter what country you were born and raised in. Your Weyrleaders did what they had to to ensure the safety of their riders and their dragons."

Harry paused and took a deep breath. "In the aftermath of this event it is easy to say what could have been done to prevent it. But blaming yourselves or each other is a waste of time. Learn from this so that it can never happen again.

"The United States came within a dragon's breath of war with dragon kind, but that didn't happen and it won't happen if we work closely with our host governments. It didn't happen because you kept your calm and let others handle the problem. Your host country doesn't understand dragons and their riders or they wouldn't have tried this stunt. Teach them what we stand for, and what we will and will not accept. Show them that you are willing to be a partner, but not a follower and never a servant."

Harry glanced over his shoulder and looked at Kat and Skip for a moment before turning back to the others. "Your Weyrleaders kept us from going to war. By keeping a tight rein on your response to this attack, it gave me time to negotiate a solution with the American Government. War was averted, this time."

Harry turned and noted the Marine Colonel in charge of the Weyr security. "You are Colonel Peters?" he asked coldly.

The Colonel nodded sourly. He had been shocked when the order came to release the riders and for the assault force to withdraw. Now he was left with just his original company of men and a handful of light vehicles to deal with thousands of dragons.

"You and your men are relieved Colonel," Harry said curtly. "The Weyr is assuming control of it's own security, you have twenty four hours to remove your men from my Weyr."

"You can't..."

"I can Colonel," Harry said coldly, overriding him. "Under article six of the Weyr's treaty with the United States we can opt to provide our own security at our discretion. Article six also defines the notice time to be no less than twenty four hours. This is your official notice and I have been assured by your President that you'll get an order confirming this within the next few hours."

Harry turned away from the Colonel and he looked over at Sirius and Draco. "We'll get things set up Harry," Sirius said.

He nodded in satisfaction then he turned back to the assembled riders. "I am certain that in the coming days many of you will consider what happened and what could have been done better. There is always room for improvement and I'm sure Skip and Kat will be willing to listen to your ideas. What I don't want is people fighting or trying to assign blame. Think hard on that. The Weyr is dismissed for the evening. Campbeltown will provide security for tonight so go to your quarters, or go get dinner."

Collectively the Weyr breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they had been very lucky this time. Harry turned and looked at Skip and Kat. "Let's go talk in your office," Harry said tightly.

Skip flinched slightly and reached for Kat's hand, then he led Harry and Ronan towards the administration building. As they walked, they picked up several other people, including Remus and Jasper Brady.

"Harry, I can't tell you how sorry," Brady said.

Harry waved him closer and said, "Jasper I know this wasn't your fault. I guess one of the problems we'll have to learn to deal with is the fact that our liaison isn't privy to everything going on in their own government. It would be unreasonable to expect you to know everything they are doing."

Jasper nodded unhappily, he had also come to that realization. He felt it was a blow to his own sense of honor that his government would take this kind of action.

Harry waited until everyone was inside the office that Skip and Kat shared, then he turned and closed the door. He took a calming breath while still facing the door, then he turned to the Condron Weyrleaders. "Explain to me how your air patrol didn't alert you when they spotted the tanks approaching the front gate," he asked in an even tone.

Skip and Kat exchanged a look, then Kat turned back to Harry. "There was no patrol yesterday. The Weyr was away and I ordered those who should have been on patrol to come with us instead," she replied meekly.

Harry turned his full attention on her. "Was that just yesterday or has this Weyr had other days without an airborne patrol?"

Kat took an involuntary step backwards, it was impossible to miss the fury in Harry's tone or the amount of magic he was radiating. "It only happens occasionally Harry," she replied hastily, "Sometimes we need to do something and we need as many people as possible. Yesterday we went up to Mt. Hood to make an in-depth survey of that Weyr. I thought we should have a full turn out and decided to include the people scheduled for Weyr patrol. We had planned this trip for the past week and needed every hand to make the in-depth survey we needed.

"It was our intent to present you with a plan that would have Condron sponsoring a Weyr, just like you've sponsored Mousa and Svartvatn Weyrs," Skip offered, trying to distract Harry away from Kat.

Harry wiped at his face tiredly and shook his head in dismay. He reached across his bond and felt the soothing presence of Chekiath. "Kat," he said in a softer tone, "Campbeltown always has a patrol overhead. Always, no matter what the Weyr is doing, no matter what the weather. I've flown in freezing rain in the blackest night, relying on my dragon's eyesight to spot any trouble. You deliberately removed your first line of protection and that Peter's guy probably noticed it right away. Since this wasn't the first time he was probably waiting for the chance to call in the armor. In the past year alone Campbeltown has had sixteen incidents of people trying to sneak into the Weyr. All of them have been harmless so far, but it only takes one person with a bomb, or a Colonel with orders. You can't afford to drop your guard, ever."

"It's not all Kat's fault Harry," Skip said in protest, "I could have ordered a patrol up when we returned home, but we were all pretty tired."

"You could have also ordered the patrol schedule to remain unchanged, those extra twenty hands wouldn't have added that much additional help when you considered you took six hundred riders to Washington," Harry snapped back. "I'm only going to say this once because it needs to be said. You. Endangered. Your. Dragons. And. Your. Weyr!"

Harry glared at the pair, then he glanced around as if daring anyone present to argue with him. Kat stepped closer to Skip and he wrapped an arm around her. Harry sighed and walked over to lean against Skip's desk. He folded his arms and said, "What are you going to do about it?" he asked.

"I'll offer to step down," Kat started to say in a whisper.

"Goddammit this is not what I meant," Harry growled. Then he straightened and walked over to where Kat and Skip stood. Kat shrank back from him. Harry was clearly angry and the magic flowing off him was making her queasy.

"Kat, Skip, this Weyr needs you both. I need you here. What I want you to do is learn from this. Security isn't a luxury, it's necessary and not something you can ever relax. Your host country took advantage of that fact and you very nearly ended up involving us in a war. There's no stepping down, it's time to step up, acknowledge you fucked up and learn from what happened.

"By this time tomorrow your marine guards will be gone and you'll be responsible for all of Condron's security, in the air and on the ground. You'll need to buy patrol vehicles, or use the dragons. Vehicles are better only because a dragon can't run all that fast and that means convincing your dragons to let your riders learn to drive. You'll need to learn how to patrol your fence line, how to handle trespassers, who to call to take them away and so on."

Harry paused and took a shaky breath, "I also promised the President that you'll make an attempt to personally educate him on dragons and our beliefs. I intend to see each Weyrleader making a similar effort. I meet with the British Prime Minister nearly once a month to discuss issues important to both of us. I had thought the other Weyrleaders were doing the same thing, but I guess I was wrong."

"A stronger understanding at the top levels of government might have prevented this incident," Jasper added softly. "But the government is in a tight spot with the war on terror and they probably felt the dragons could really help with that."

Harry started to say something, but Jasper waved him to silence. "I'm not saying that is what I believe Harry. I'm just saying that things are bogging down overseas and the government wanted an easy fix. An easy fix which they saw in dragons. Personally I think it takes a very strong character to maintain strict neutrality but the dragons need to be neutral."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, then he turned back to Skip and Kat. "You have an added problem and forgive me Jasper, but your host government has broken our trust. It was already damaged over the incident with Jared, now I do not trust the American government. Period."

Jasper winced and wanted to protest, but he could understand Harry's point of view.

"As much as I'm inclined to evacuate the Weyr, we have too many commercial contracts here and frankly I don't have a place to put a thousand dragons right now. America has a technology base that is hard to find in many other countries. We still have to work with the American government, but now we'll be viewing their actions through a lens of suspicion and I don't like that."

Harry stabbed a finger at the Condron Weyrleaders. "That's your job. Teach the Americans what we stand for and why. Treat their president with respect, but never allow yourselves to be treated as anything less than equal to him. Teach them that the Weyrs are willing to help, but are unwilling to be coerced and we will not involve ourselves in their wars. The Weyrs owe no allegiance to anyone except ourselves."

Harry smiled viciously and backed away from the pair. "It doesn't help that I privately kicked your president in the stones and only barely pretended to be friendly on camera. He knows he lost, the question is what will he learn from this?"

He walked back over to the desk and leaned against it. "I like the idea of turning Mount Hood into a manned Weyr. But on the other hand I have little trust in the American government so I'm going be very cautious about any new Weyrs in the United States for the foreseeable future. If Condron does pick up the costs for Mount Hood then at least I won't have Karen yelling at me for spending money that I shouldn't."

There were several chuckles around the room. Harry was notorious for freely spending money on new Weyrs before the host government even agreed to help pay for it. Harry walked over to a window and glanced out. It seemed that Condron was settling down to an outdoor celebration tonight. A number of riders were setting up outdoor barbecues and others were rigging lights and tables. It had been a very tense day for everyone and it looked like people needed to blow off some steam with a party.

Condron had a reputation for holding epic parties resulting in epic hangovers.

Harry turned back to Skip and Kat. "Finally if you ever get even the slightest hint that the United States government is planning something like this again, I want all three Weyrs evacuated. I do not want a repeat of one of my Weyrs being held hostage at gunpoint. You are authorized if necessary to fight your way free with lethal force. From here on Condron is to maintain a prepositioned supply depot that you can grab and go with a one hour notice. Are we clear on that?"

Skip nodded fervently and Kat echoed his sentiment. The events of the last day had shaken the American Weyrleaders to the core. And Harry's dressing down only added to the guilt they felt.

Harry cocked his head to one side and looked intently at Skip. "It looks like your riders are setting up for a celebration outside. I'm not sure what they are celebrating, but it will give them a chance to blow off some steam. Are you feeling up to it?"

"I'll get a headache potion from the infirmary," Kat said, "He'll be fine."

Harry nodded. "Good enough, then I guess it's time for a barbecue."

Harry turned and exited the room leaving the Condron Weyrleaders standing there a bit helplessly. "Why do I feel like I've just been scolded by my teacher?" Kat asked softly.

Remus snorted. "Because you have. Harry's had to learn how to be Weyrleader all by himself. You and the other Weyrleaders have him as an example to guide you."

"Makes sense in a way," Skip said, then he winced and placed a hand to his forehead.

"I'm getting you that potion," Kat announced. She knew that tonights conversation in bed wouldn't be easy or pleasant.

"Okay okay, I'll see you outside," Skip said, then he left the room.

Two hours later Skip and Kat found themselves sitting among the division leaders and others from Campbeltown, talking about how to handle the security. Draco and Sirius were setting it up for tonight, but unlike Campbeltown, Condron had no one in charge of Weyr security. It was an oversight that both Kat and Skip realized they needed to fix and fast.

While the Weyr leadership ate and talked in subdued voices, the rest of the Weyr partied, mostly celebrating the relief they felt at avoiding a war.

Skip glanced around, "Where's Harry?" he asked. His headache was gone thanks to Kat's potion.

May looked up from the paper plate in her lap. "He's decompressing."

"I'm sorry? He's what?" Kat asked in confusion.

Hermione pointed to where Chekiath lay on the hot tarmac. It wasn't easy to see, but Kat could make just about make out a form sitting between Chekiath's front paws. Chekiath had wrapped his paws protectively about Harry and he seemed to be sitting there silently with his eyes closed. From his posture Kat knew he wasn't asleep.

"He'll join us eventually," Hermione added, "that's why I made an extra plate of food. He often needs some time to center himself after some kind of major stress. We've learned to give him that time. Once he's centered, he'll be back and willing to talk about whatever caused the stress. Today was hard on everyone, but it was hardest on Harry."

May nodded. "I asked him about it once. He said that going to war is easy, all that takes is anger. Keeping the peace when you're angry is much harder. And he was very angry about what happened today."

"He'll be fine," Remus added from nearby, anger was something he knew intuitively thanks to his experiences as a werewolf. "I bet he'll be over here, eating and discussing today in a bit."

"I'm not sure I want to talk about it," Kat said softly.

May chuckled, "I can understand that."

Kat turned to May. "What do you mean?"

Hermione looked at Kat and shook her head. "The dragons are the nosiest people in the world Kat. Haven't you learned that by now? Harry might have wanted to talk to you two privately, but both Weyrs were listening in thanks to our dragons."

"My god," Kat exclaimed, then she blushed deeply.

"It could have been worse," Remus offered. "Harry respects you two immensely. If anything that was why he was so hard on you both. If he didn't respect you, I'm sure Condron would have a new Weyrleader tonight."

Skip chuckled and said, "Well I don't know about Kat, but I don't feel so respected right now. I guess we just have to learn from this and see where it takes us."

Skip stood and Kat cried out in protest. She had been leaning against him and lost that support when he stood up. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to find Billy and appoint him temporary security chief until we can work out a better solution. Who knows? He might want the job full time," he replied mildly.

Kat nodded to him and reached for her drink. Skip and Harry were right, they needed to learn from this and move on.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

* A longer chapter than usual, but I was faced with a bit of a dilemma. A longer chapter or a short chapter leaving you with a cliff hanger. Being the nice man that I am I opted to NOT give you a cliff hanger.

* Jupimako, there are elves helping the riders out with child care. And Campbeltown has built a very large school facility that is slowly being staffed as more children need to be schooled. It is only a primary/pre-primary school as the children will be sent elsewhere for their high school education, but it's a very nice adequate place with the coolest drinking fountains and gymnasium. They were going to have a swimming pool, but after a few dragons decided to use it to soak there was no room for anyone else so they drained the pool and filled it in.

* WhiteElfelder, Bingo!

* Royslady51, that might be what you're hoping for. I'm hoping and praying you're wrong. Sorry.

* Abyssal Angel, we did lose after 9/11. That single act caused us to willingly give up more rights and freedoms than any other act in our history. So yes, we LOST the war on terror before it even began. Personally I think it's going to be funny when videos start popping up from NYC showing the cops spying on people in their bedrooms. Every security measure taken since 9/11 has the capability of being abused and no one has complained about them going into place. Hello full body scanners from the TSA. Thanks for that. :)

* Ferensai, thanks for the offer of cupcakes, but my blood sugar levels really wouldn't like that very much. I may talk about donuts, but most of the time I have to pass them by in the store.

* Old_Crow, the detail is like an author's fingerprint. Normally I can get away with less detail because a Harry Potter story doesn't need a lot and when something inexplicable happens you can say "it's magic!". That doesn't work so well then you're dealing with a story like this. Things have to happen according to rules, and no one can work on the world stage and be in a vacuum. So yeah there are a lot of details that need to be dealt with.

It was good to hear from you my friend!

* That's about it for the notes this chapter. For some reason FFN seemed to be having problems with their review system last chapter. I posted the chapter and didn't see a single review appear until Sunday when a burst of about 20 reviews appeared, then another 15 or so showed up on Wednesday. Normally reviews don't happen like that and it's quite possible if you reviewed last chapter that it might have been lost to a review black hole caused by something FFN did.

Personally I'm still not sure the review system is working right.


	11. Chapter 11

**Standard Disclaimer:**

Bob walked onto the stage and noted the video camera pushed into a corner. He turned to Alyx, "I thought you were making the ultimate nut shot fail video?" he asked.

Alyx looked up from the book she was reading. "Ummm well I couldn't find any volunteers and my involuntary volunteers escaped. Besides, who needs another nut shot video, the big Internet money is in cat videos!"

Bob looked around warily. He loved cats, but knowing Alyx they would soon be playing host to two hundred cats.

"So what are you doing now?" he asked. Alyx was supposed to be writing the disclaimer; telling people they didn't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern.

"I've decided to corner two very lucrative markets on the Internet since the shelter only had one hundred kittens instead of the two hundred I wanted," she replied. She didn't feel the need to tell Bob that she ordered the kittens via Amazon and they would be delivered in two days.

Bob gestured for her to continue.

"Well, this is my facebook," she exclaimed proudly, then thrust the heavy tome into Bob's hands.

He looked down at the huge book and frowned. "Facebook?" he muttered, but he couldn't deny it, the Book was clearly titled 'Alyx's Face book'.

Alyx squealed happily at Bob. "It's gonna make us rich! We can sell copies and people will line up eagerly to buy it."

Bob glanced up at her, then down at the massive volume. He cautiously opened the book to a random page. Inside the book was a face. No, not a picture. She had somehow managed to peel away someone's face and staple it to the page. It looked strangely like Mark Zuckerberg.

The eyes suddenly popped open and stared at Bob, pleadingly. "Help me," the face whispered.

Bob screamed and dropped the book, stepping back.

"Face Book!" Alyx exclaimed brightly. "I have hundreds of entries."

Bob wiped his face with his hands, subtly checking to make sure it was still secure, then he turned to face the audience. "Why don't you folks read the chapter while I try to explain to Alyx what Facebook really is?"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 11  
Fallout**

* * *

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, August 3rd, 2004...**

The day after the affair with the United States saw Campbeltown for the most part, relaxing again with riders getting back into their studies or jobs.

For Harry it was a day spent explaining again that the Weyrs and America had been working together and yesterday someone misunderstood their orders. Harry didn't like outright lying, but he knew he needed America, and the Weyrs needed America. He took comfort from the fact that Presidents don't last forever and someday soon they might find themselves working with someone they could deal with.

After an early morning press conference, Harry spent his morning hours talking with his Weyrleaders about what happened and exactly what message they needed to send to their host governments. The Weyrs would publicly adhere to the American cover story, but privately some of the World's leaders would learn the unvarnished truth from their Weyrleaders or from Harry directly.

Lee Jordan was another who was working extra hard that morning. He and Harry had participated in an short news conference in the early morning and then Harry dumped the rest in his lap. The world wide press were looking for answers and Lee would spend most of the day discounting rumors and correcting misconceptions before they made headlines.

After talking to his Weyrleaders, he spent another few hours on the phone explaining in detail what had happened. For the most part the world leaders had had spoken to were generally understanding, although several strongly urged more restraint and mediation instead of using force. On the whole, most approved of his actions and were grateful for a quick end to the crisis.

Lord Mills found Harry still in his office mid afternoon. A platter of sandwiches untouched on his coffee table. James watched him quietly for a few minutes.

Harry reached for his tea and sipped carefully while paging through the emails from the other Weyrleaders offering to help Condron train their security. He was pleased to see everyone coming together to support Condron, this was the kind of bonding he hoped would happen among the Weyrs.

Kat had sent Harry a document outlining a preliminary plan to enhance the Weyr security. The Condron Weyrleaders had stayed up late preparing the document and it was pretty clear that yesterday had rattled them both.

"Harry, have you got a minute?"

Harry looked up and smiled at Lord Mills. "James, come on in," he said. "I'm just reviewing Skip and Kat's preliminary plan for Condron's security, very dry reading I'm afraid." He paused and watched James enter. "So are you here to yell at me?"

James sat down opposite Harry and sighed. "No, not really but I received a rather startling phone call from the PM this morning. You really had the chaps at Whitehall in a tizzy yesterday and between you and I, I believe the PM was ready to have kittens for a while there. It seems the Americans are rather put out with you. While they haven't declared you Persona Non Grata, they complained to us that we need to exert more control over you. Unfortunately the cover story they invented prevents them from doing any more than grumbling. The Bush administration doesn't dare let it leak out what really happened, and since part of the cover story implies a good working relationship between the Yanks and you, well they can't complain too much I'm afraid."

Harry arched an eyebrow at James. "And the PM's reply?" he asked warily.

James smiled slightly. "Mr. Blair reminded the American Ambassador that the Weyr is an autonomous entity and you in particular are not under anyone's control. He also had some rather harsh things to say to the Yanks about honoring their obligations. It is the opinion of Her Majesty's government that your actions were justified, if a bit melodramatic. He also asked me to remind you that the United Kingdom and the United States are close allies. For the most part our interests and theirs coincide most of the time, but we would rather not be put in an awkward position if a conflict arose between Dragons and the United States.

"Privately he asks that you do try to avoid putting yourselves at risk. He knows dragons hold an important role in humanity's future. He has no wish to see anyone hurt."

Dobby appeared and handed James a mug of tea just the way he liked it. He accepted the mug with a murmured thanks and watched Harry carefully.

"Considering the situation we would have been within our rights to take any action necessary to release our people," Harry countered carefully.

James took a sip of tea then he nodded. "Yes, the PM is very much aware of that fact and he is very grateful that you opted for a show of force instead of using force. While Her Majesty's government might not be willing to admit it publicly I do get the impression that the PM and his staff were surprised with how quickly you resolved the crisis and you managed to do it without any bloodshed."

James leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I think the PM was rather impressed, once he got over his initial shock. Mr. Blair asks that should you believe you might be in such a position, come to him first. He might be able to give you options you haven't thought of. Or perhaps even offer mediation services."

Harry nodded, it had occurred to him to ask the British to intercede on their behalf. But he was aware of the current situation with the Blair government was supporting the Americans in the middle east. He hadn't wanted to ask the British to help when he knew that would have resulted in conflicting interests.

"The PM also passed along a question from Her Majesty, who was concerned about the dragons. She wanted to know if any of them were injured," James said.

"Skip Taylor received a rifle butt to the head because he tried to prevent some marines from disarming Kat, but no dragons were injured. There were no other injuries and the only other item of note is that Luna's Trandieth caused some minor damage while perched on top of their presidential jet. Apparently the plane uses a special paint and it turned out that this paint was especially vulnerable to dragon dung. Trandiath seemed rather pleased with herself and I'm told that nearly forty percent of the top of the aircraft has been stripped down to the bare metal. The Americans are not happy with the fact that they have to repaint the aircraft," Harry said, trying to suppress a smile. "I seriously considered an offer to pay for the paint job if the Yanks offer to repave the roads their tanks tore up. In the end I guess we'll all have to pay for our own problems."

Skip had told Harry that fixing the Weyr streets would be cheap compared to repainting Air Force One.

James blinked and started to chuckle. Dragon dung is very hot when it's fresh and rather runny and takes at least six hours to cool down to room temperature and solidfy. He could easily imagine what a full load of that wet gooey stuff would do to paint.

Harry waited until James calmed down before he continued. "James, Condron has assumed full responsibility for Weyr security, including ground patrols and we'll be bringing their research center under the DSL umbrella. At the present Campbeltown has no plans, nor any reason to do the same. The situations for the two Weyrs are very different. I had Condron assume control because I wanted the American military presence removed from my weyr. Unlike here, Condron now has to deal with the fact there is no trust at the moment between Condron and the American government.

"I would like to rebuild that trust. I need to rebuild that trust, we have commercial contracts with the Yanks that we cannot easily walk away from," Harry admitted, "But it's going to take time. Removing the military guard that enabled those tanks into the weyr is just one small step on the path to rebuilding that trust. Skip and Kat have standing orders to evacuate all three American Weyrs if they ever feel that the Yanks are trying something funny again. That'll mean severing all economic ties with the Yanks and their businesses. It's a drastic move on our part and I made it plainly clear to Bush that if we made such a move, we'd be sure to tell the public exactly why we pulled out."

Harry looked at James pointedly. He was sending a message to the British. If the Americans messed up again, there would be new opportunities for someone willing to take in the dragons. Harry knew that the British and American interests often matched, but the British weren't above taking advantage of someone else's situation. Should the Americans and the dragons have a fall out, the British would have an opportunity to help themselves to the new opportunities offered by three Weyrs looking for a home.

James nodded soberly. Harry's message was clear and James would be happy to pass it along to Tony Blair. James was also pleased to note that it implied a great deal of trust in the British. He knew that trust was based entirely on mutual respect and the history of how the British government had treated the Weyr.

"I can understand that, and when I talk with the PM, I'll make him aware of the situation. Rebuilding trust is not an easy thing and I know the PM won't like that there is an issue now between dragons and the Yanks. However, if I may suggest, perhaps it might not be prudent to ask a third party to help mediate any future problems."

Harry fell silent for a long moment considering the idea. "I suppose it's worth a try," he said finally. "But if a Weyr finds itself under gunpoint again, I can't wait around while someone tries to arbitrate a solution; not when my riders and dragons are in danger."

James nodded, Harry's position was very understandable.

"The other item I wanted to bring up concerned the power plant construction in Germany and Austria. The German police were investigating one of their trade unions for organized crime links; instead they uncovered evidence of the union being influenced to slow production of anything related to dragon power plants. It wasn't a work stoppage, or anything major that would be noticed by the employer. What they found was a systemic problem of delays and costly mistakes resulting in production delays, coupled with payments into the union coffers from an untraceable source."

Harry grunted softly.

"Remember when you spoke about the problems facing the Weyrs?"

"Yes I remember," Harry admitted ruefully. He had long suspected that someone was working against the Weyrs even after the attacks at the construction sites ceased. Now, here was the proof.

"Well you see, the thing is, the Germans have found evidence that someone is trying to slow construction of the power plants by slowing construction of the machinery that goes into building a plant. We've been so busy concentrating on protecting the construction sites that it didn't occur to anyone that someone could impact construction without attacking the building sites.

"The disturbing thing is this appears to be an organized effort. We suspected something along those lines when the construction sites were attacked, but now it's looking like its a confirmed fact. Someone wants to delay or halt construction."

Harry's expression soured and he glanced up to a world map that was peppered with little yellow pins marking the location of every construction site. The map contained a lot more information, but it was the construction sites that interested him most.

"How do you fight back against that sort of tactic?" he mumbled to himself.

"You and your dragons don't. We're going to insist that all future UK contracts include a time based penalty," James said. "The Americans have been doing that since the beginning, that's why there's been no slow downs at their sites. Basically if a company is contracted to provide something for the power plant, they have to provide it on time or suffer a monetary penalty. Each subcontractor will be warned before hand about the problem so they can be on the lookout for and signs of work tampering. A little warning before hand will go a long way to finding and stopping these issues."

James leaned forward in his chair. "Harry, this isn't something for the Weyr to get involved over. The various governments and companies building the power plants need to be concerned, but the Weyrs can't do any more than what they are already doing. I only mentioned it because I have an uneasy feeling about this."

Harry's eyes narrowed and he gazed at James intently. "Oh? Uneasy how?"

James shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it, but it struck me as odd that someone willing to spend so much money would go to such an effort and not resort to more direct action. I mean there is a lot of money changing hands for very little result. With the management of the involved companies aware of the problem it will be harder to cause further job related problems."

Harry studied James for a while. "Is this also the position of Her Majesty's government?"

James shook his head. "No. No, this is just something that has been bothering me since I first learned of the German investigation. From what I've been able to tell, no one has told the PM that there is a concerted effort afoot to slow the building of the power plants. Or maybe he knows and realizes that it's really not our problem to fix," James offered.

"_Harry, Sheep Guy is using his instincts,"_ Chekiath said, butting into the conversation. _"I've noticed that humans tend to ignore their instincts and sometimes they are right to ignore them. And sometimes they are not right. Sheep Guy is giving you a warning however vague. I think you should listen to him."_

Harry smiled and glanced over to his dragon. "You're right about that mate. Its just a hard warning to prepare for. I'll enter it as an item for the next Weyr leader meeting."

He turned back to Lord Mills. "James, I appreciate the warning. Chekiath is right, I think we'd probably be a lot better off as a race if we listened to our gut feelings more often. I'm not sure what we can do about it, but I'll mention it at the next Weyr leader meeting."

James stood. "Thank you, that does make me feel a little better. I was afraid you'd ignore it."

Harry shook his head. "How can I with Cheki around? At worst it's a false alarm but Cheki thinks it's worth talking about, so that's what we'll do."

**Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, December 2004...**

General Iskady Sukov entered the outer office and barely acknowledged the greetings from his aide, Captain Irina Hannanov. She had followed him from his previous posting mostly because he did not want to have to find a new mistress. He considered himself lucky, she was efficient in her work and equally efficient in his bed.

The reason for his preoccupation lay sitting where he left it last night on his desk. A message from Minister Danakov proposing a series of new provocative tests against the dragons at Joensuu Weyr. They had already run some tests which allowed them to judge the capability of the dragons. Such tests included several car bombs, a fire and deliberately sabotaging a commercial commuter jet causing it to crash shortly after take off from Joensuu airport. From these tests they learned how quickly the Weyr could respond and how they would respond.

Now Danakov was proposing several tests which would dangerously increase their chances of exposure.

Sukov's political masters had been rattled by how quickly the United States had given into the dragons and they suspected the dragons had abilities they didn't know about. How else was a country like the US forced to concede so quickly? The Russians were not buying into the American cover story and had enough intelligence information to suggest something had happened that the Americans weren't talking about.

The American government wasn't talking about the incident except to say that due to garbled communications a unit commander acted improperly. Said commander was put on leave pending investigation and was that. Officially there was no word at all from the American government about the press reports of dragons being spotted at most major US air force and Navy air bases.

Privately every western government and quite a few others realized that no one knew how to fight a foe that could teleport vast distances in seconds. Quite a large number of generals around the world were shaken and scrambling to find out information that could lead to new combat doctrines.

Sukov sat at his desk rereading the file that Danakov had sent him late yesterday. The door opened and Irina entered carrying a silver tray with a coffee pot and a cup. She placed the tray on a nearby table and deftly poured a cup of coffee. She placed the coffee on Sukov's desk and then reached for a file folder.

"I have your morning dispatches comrade general," she said softly.

Sukov looked up and nodded slightly then returned to his report. It wasn't always easy to concentrate with Irina around, she had a sultry voice that had caught his attention when she was a newly commissioned captain assigned to his office five years earlier. It captivated him then, and captivated him now.

She paused and noted he was reading a report he had received earlier. "Is something bothering you Iskady?" she asked.

She knew that he would allow these small lapses in discipline, but only when they were alone like now. His wife of thirty years lived in the country, away from Moscow and he hadn't seen her in nearly four years. Her health had been declining for nearly a decade and it was why he finally succumbed to temptation and took Irina for his mistress. If his wife would stop lingering and just die, he would gladly ask her to marry him despite the twenty year age difference between them.

He valued her contribution to his life, both in the bed and out and occasionally he would talk to her in broad terms about issues that were bothering him about his job. For all their conversation however, Irina could readily admit that he never once divulged a secret she wasn't already cleared to know about as his personal aide.

"This report from our Minister Danakov. He proposes some provocative actions and I am uncertain that they will prove anything of any value," grumbled Sukov.

Sukov leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. Moscow had a fresh blanket of snow that always made the city look better than it really was. "These dragons have reaction times that would make our best squadrons green with envy. We struggle to put twenty four aircraft in the air in less than fifteen minutes while they can get over five hundred dragons airborne in less than three.

"We struggle to coordinate so many planes, but the dragons have no need of airborne radars and ground controllers. They can do by instinct what takes months to train our pilots and controllers to do. And now Danakov wants to try direct action to confirm some things that he has read in the western papers. Will a dragon suicide if it's rider dies? That Japanese dragon appeared to do so when his rider was killed, but do we really know if the rider's death caused the dragon to suicide? We do need to know such things, but it is a dangerous thing he is suggesting."

He turned in his chair to look at Irina, "I worry that if we're caught, we might find ourselves in a conflict we are not ready for. If our sources in Washington are correct, what the dragons did to the Americans is disturbing. We are not ready for that and we may never be."

Irina nodded. She knew intimately what the state of their readiness was since she compiled that information for her general every month. Progress had been made on improving the infra-red missile guidance systems and that was the good news. The bad news was that little progress had been made to counter the dragon's ability to go Between. Modern fighter aircraft were not designed to go up against opponents who were capable of violating the laws of physics.

Sukov had watched hundreds of hours of videotapes showing dragons in flight. The dragons frightened him, they seemed to know instinctively where the other dragons were at all time and their flight patterns violated Newtonian physics! A dragon could be heading south at two hundred miles an hour, then jump Between and come out going north with no loss in airspeed! As a former pilot himself he shuddered to think of what it would be like going up against the dragons even in a modern top of the line aircraft. Their ability to go Between meant that they could command the airspace and the air battle despite their slow flying speed.

He had even seen one video of a dragon following a commercial airliner. The airliner was traveling at least twice the speed of the dragon, but the dragon kept up using a series of jumps Between. In that two minute clip, the range between the dragon and airliner never once altered by more than a hundred meters.

"I'm sure Minister Danakov would not ask if he didn't think it was important," Irina offered.

Sukov sipped his coffee thoughtfully, then he held out the report for Irina to take.

"You are probably right Irina but we are not ready yet so we must be cautious. Draft a reply to our good Minister agreeing with his proposal, but suggest that he uses people that have no direct connection to us, and that he picks another Weyr other than Joensuu. It is too close and might arouse suspicion," he said.

Irina stood and took the report. "A wise precaution sir. I will have a letter prepared for you to review shortly," she replied. She started to walk to the door, then she stopped and turned slightly, allowing her profile to show. "Lunch today Iskady?" she asked with a sly smile.

Sukov looked up from his desk and his eyes raked over her breasts covered by her uniform. "Yes captain, I think a working lunch would do us good," he replied a bit eagerly.

Irina smiled, then she turned and left the office. She had a letter to write, and a report to send to her other master at the intelligence service. Irina loved Sukov, but she also had a duty to the motherland and so far she had reported nothing but praise for her general.

**Campbeltown Weyr, December 27th 2004...**

Harry reread the email printout in his hands for the third time, the disbelief was clear in his expression. He sat at the main table in the hall along with the rest of the Weyr's leadership. They had gathered together waiting to hear they were needed.

"The Red Cross is suggesting that we stand down. A number of factors have come together, political, racial and even religious that make it unwise for us to participate without being asked," He said softly. "The Red Cross says that even the Red Crescent is having difficulty sending material and aide workers to the disaster scene. For some reason the local government is reluctant to allow foreign workers in."

A day after the single greatest disaster in living memory occurred and the Weyr was frustrated by the slow response of the governments involved. Harry could understand the politics, some of it motivated by religion and some by outright fear caused by what the dragons did to America. Not for the first time and certainly not for the last he cursed the American President for being an idiot. Some countries were more open towards the Weyr now that they proved themselves unwilling to follow Washington's examples, other countries however were wary of Weyr involvement, afraid that the Weyrs were a wild card.

This was just another case of the fallout and the Weyr would have to cope with it as best as possible.

His voice carried throughout the hall thanks in part to the hundreds of dragons listening in and repeating the words to their riders. Harry looked up with a very unhappy expression. "We're not going," he said flatly.

"Harry how can you accept that? Are you going to let so many suffer when we can help?" May demanded angrily.

May glared at him for a moment longer then went back to staring at the television which was broadcasting images from one of the greatest disasters in the past hundred years. Just yesterday a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami that some experts were claiming at least a quarter of a million people may have died.

The television was muted, but the images of the destruction were heart wrenching.

Harry shrugged helplessly. "Sweetheart, I want to help, but you heard what the Red Cross had to say, Indonesia is reluctant about asking for outside help and so far, only Thailand has requested assistance. I sent in Sakushima as soon as they asked. India is asking for material aid only, and so are many of the other affected countries. The hardest hit however are reluctant to allow outsiders in to help."

He spoke to May directly, but his words were for everyone.

"As much as we may want to rush in, you know the rules, until the country asks, we cannot simply show up," Harry added. "The IRC has been asking hourly to send SAR units to Bandeh Aceh and the Indonesians are dragging their feet. Isikara says they have everything in hand in Thailand. In the meantime I have five full Weyrs on standby, over 2500 dragons and riders just waiting for a chance to help out. I can't do anymore than that."

"What about some of the other countries?" May asked plaintively.

Harry waved his hand towards a map supplied by the International Red Cross showing the affected areas. "It's the same issue there as well May. The Thais jumped to accept dragon help, the Indians seemed to think they weren't needed and Sri Lanka says they are buried under aid people and have more help than they can deal with.

"Parts of the African coast have been affected, but those regions are sparsely populated and some of them are currently embroiled in civil wars, even the Red Cross is shying away from sending people into a war zone."

Harry paused and took a deep breath, it was obvious to everyone that he was as deeply frustrated as May.

"The International Red Cross and the World Health Organization are hoping to set up an international conference in six months where they can hammer out a plan for dealing with disasters of this scale. Our British Red Cross representative has requested that we send someone to represent the Weyrs. But that's for the next major disaster which, frankly, I hope happens well after I'm gone."

Harry waved a hand at the television mounted against one wall. "I never want to see something like that again," he said fervently, then he turned back to May. "Think about it from my perspective, I can put three thousand riders into the field who have been trained in first aid and SAR techniques, but politics is preventing all but a small token force to sit and watch this unfold on the telly."

May sat down and Hermione put an arm around her. Everyone knew she was the person that had led the effort to get the Weyrs involved with the Red Cross, and everyone felt her frustration. May keenly felt the need to do something, but without approval from the countries involved all she could do is watch and feel guilty because she wasn't helping.

Harry watched her for a moment, then he relaxed slightly. Hermione comforted her and that would do until tonight when they could have some time to themselves. The dragons understood the scope of the disaster, but they didn't understand the politics that prevented their help. Tonight all six would draw comfort from each other.

He glanced up at the rest of the division leaders and their wing commanders who had watched the whole scene with intense interest. The leaders of Campbeltown were present, but so were most of the riders who had been waiting for their turn to be called up. Everyone wanted to know why they were still sitting in Scotland nearly twenty four hours after the disaster.

Harry sighed and reached for the printout of the email he had received.

"As I told May, politics are preventing us from participating where we'd be most effective. I received an email from our Red Cross Liaison who says that the current government in Indonesia is stonewalling a lot of aid from reaching the affected zones. There are even reports of some armed militant bands roaming the affected areas with government permission. Several UNESCO units have reported being fired upon by unknown assailants."

Harry paused and took a breath. "Sakushima is performing superbly according to the Thais. Thanks to their timely request Sakushima was able to arrive within three hours and effect the rescue of some one hundred and forty people who had been washed out to sea and managed to find something to cling to. That is on top of those people our dragons located buried under rubble."

Harry looked up from the paper when an appreciative murmur echoed through the packed Kitchen Hall.

He grimaced and tried not to let his annoyance show. "They are estimating nearly a quarter of a million dead and another million injured. Estimates of the number of people made homeless range from two to six million. As precious as a single life or even one hundred and forty lives are, it is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the scale of this disaster."

A number of the riders openly flinched at Harry's harsh reply.

He crumpled the email in his fist and took a deep breath. There was no sense in getting angry with his riders. The hall fell silent again at his rebuke, and he looked over at Ronan. "Ronan, the Weyr was ready to respond with all wings and disaster equipment in just twenty one minutes, that is our best time yet. Let's make that the standard for future drills. It is not our fault that we weren't asked to help."

Ronan looked up in surprise and nodded.

"On a more pleasant note, Campbeltown found those missing hikers yesterday, and Minnewanka reports saving a fishing boat and crew up Bering Straights last week. Our efforts to provide humanitarian services continues. As much as I am frustrated and angry by that," he said pointing towards the telly, "we really can't let it deter our operations or our morale. It pains me to say it, but there will be other disasters where we will be able to have a positive impact.

"Lee will hold a press conference in the morning in which he'll state that while willing; we cannot render aid to countries that haven't asked for aid. He'll point out our efforts in Thailand and hopefully that will answer some of the press that have been asking why we haven't turned out for this disaster."

Lee looked up from his seat and shot Harry a broad grin. Like Harry, he had reluctantly learned to talk in front of the cameras even if he hated it.

Everyone nodded at that. The press had been asking why the Weyrs hadn't turned out for this disaster since it first started. It was a black mark that they needed to combat in the court of public opinion. Reports out of Thailand however were showing dragons helping. Tomorrow Campbeltown would make it known that they weren't asked to help, placing any blame squarely back on the countries involved.

"Your response to this disaster and the speed in which you made us ready to respond is commendable. I thank each and everyone of you for your efforts. Ronan, send a message to Condron, Minnewanka, Shetland and Joensuu to stand down from the alert. If they haven't called us out by now I doubt they will," Harry added, then he gathered up his papers and stood and left the Kitchen Hall.

Ronan stood slowly and looked around. "You heard the man, let's get our stuff packed away and get back to business."

The riders slowly stood and filed from the hall. Everyone was unhappy with the situation and they knew they would have a hard time explaining to their dragons why they weren't helping.

**Lac Logipi Weyr, Kenya, January 2005...**

Sorth craned her long neck skyward and watched the aircraft make another pass over the Weyr. Most of her body was safely inside her Weyr and protected by six meters of rock, only her head and neck were exposed.

The Weyr was hidden from detection by the wards emplaced by the Campbeltown riders. It wasn't perfect protection and Sorth knew that, which was why her weyr were currently huddled in their personal Weyrs, hidden from view from the heat seeking devices built by man.

Sorth pulled her head back inside and turned to her mate.

"_Dreth, the machines do not go away."_

Dreth turned to Sorth. _"__Rest easy my mate, t__hey cannot reach us here __in our Weyrs__. Let them look, the Weyrleader says they cannot see us. If we expose ourselves, then they can find us. __Unlike us, they cannot stay in the air for long.__"_

Sorth bobbed her head and gave a snort. _"You are wise and desirable. __I chose well when I picked you for first consort__,"_ she admitted with a touch of pride.

Dreth's eyes whirled with bright green streaks at the compliment. _"__Of course you picked well, I am most nimble in the air. Even your second consort cannot out fly me. __It is a shame you cannot cover me on the ground like the __riders do__. I suppose we'll have to wait __until the humans go away."_

Sorth snorted again and moved closer to her mate, rubbing her head against his.

"_Silly male,"_ she grumbled good naturedly, _"be patient."_

Overhead the twin engine turbo-prop plane flew past, still looking for the Weyr that was known to be in the vicinity. Officially the aircraft was chartered to search for possible oil deposits. The pilots watched the aircraft be fitted with modern sensing machinery, but they weren't familiar enough with aerial surveying to know the senors had little to do with detecting oil deposits.

The magnetic anomaly detectors had little to do with detecting dragons, but then, the Saudi Arabian general that paid for the mission didn't know that.

Sorth continued to rub her head against Dreth in anticipation of covering her later. But for now she'd be patient. If the humans in their flying machines came again tomorrow, she'd bespeak to Chekiath and let The Weyrleader know.

**Mikawa bay, Japan, January 2005...**

The small boat bobbed gently in the swells. Had it been daylight the boat would have caught anyone's eye. Sleek and built for high performance and high speed, the cigarette boat drifted slowly in the sluggish current. There were two men aboard, two strangers that had met for the first time only a few hours ago when they took possession of the boat. Neither man knew the other's name, instead they called each other by their function. One was the shooter, the other the driver.

Neither man knew that two other boats were also on the bay monitoring their progress and hoping to record the events as they unfolded.

It was dark and the only lights came from the buildings on the shore. Nearby Sakushima Weyr was lit up by flood lamps mounted on posts along the perimeter of the Weyr and a pair of Land Cruisers slowly patrolled the fence line.

Security was tight at Sakushima, but for different reasons than some of the other manned Weyrs. Sakushima drew people that wanted to meet dragons, or wanted to be dragon riders. Unlike Campbeltown, or even Condron, there were no religious fanatics out to denounce the dragons. No one wanted to hurt the dragons. The Japanese as a nation had fallen in love with dragons and their riders.

Shooter played with his sniper rifle and muttered under his breath about the lack of a stable shooting platform. The Weyr had been checked carefully and there simply wasn't a place on the island that would allow the shooter a chance to get away. Sakushima Weyr was on a small island in Mikawa bay, there was the Weyr and a few commercial buildings and piers, but no place to hide, and no real way to escape.

Shooter was a veteran of operations around the world, and he often worked for the Russians even if he wasn't one himself. The Russians respected him and his skill at getting a job done, which explained why they had obtained a million dollar speed boat for his getaway.

"Dawn is twenty minutes from now," Driver whispered. "If the information is correct, they will lift off in just twenty five minutes."

Shooter grunted in acknowledgment and he adjusted his rifle scope for the tenth time. They were less than five hundred yards from the shore, near the point where the dragons had been spotted assembling for their patrols.

Twenty five minutes later he sighted in on a group of four dragons that were assembling for the morning Weyr patrol. He picked his target and carefully tried to steady his weapon, then he pulled the trigger. He grimaced, the boat was rocking in the gentle swells and his shot wasn't going to be on target!

The driver gunned the engines as soon as he fired. Both men knew that escape was now the only thing they could do.

In the Weyr a rider slumped against her dragon, held in place only by her riding harness. The dragon bellowed in anguish and the other three dragons leapt into the air to chase down the boat. They clearly heard the shot.

The group of riders that had been coming off late night patrol quickly ran to the aid of their comrade. She was hit low in the back; the bullet was off target due to the rocking of the boat. Around them the Weyr awoke to the sound of dragons bellowing in anger and the intruder siren.

The driver looked behind him and soiled himself in fright, his engines were at full throttle and there were three dragons practically on top of him! All three dragons bellowed in anger, then the shooter stood and aimed his weapon. The lead dragon, a Chinese Fireball belched a staccato of fireballs that blew most of shooter's torso apart and set the bow of the boat on fire. The driver screamed again in fright and dove over the side of the boat.

A second dragon slowed and turned around to scoop up the badly injured driver. Jumping from a boat doing seventy miles an hour is not a smart move no matter how scared someone might be. They were returning to the Weyr when a second group of dragons lifted off with their injured rider for the short straight flight over the bay to the nearest hospital.

**Campbeltown Weyr, February 2005...**

May watched Harry from the window of their home. He stood alone, outside, looking up. Lobsang had just left for Maziang, he had been the last of the Weyrleaders to leave after the meeting. Harry valued Lobsang's advice. His unique Buddhist viewpoint colored his dragon rider instincts. It made for an interesting mix and Harry found that Lobsang often had a different way of looking at things that allowed Harry to see other possibilities.

The meeting had been especially troubling and Harry had kept Lobsang longer than the others. World wide there had been a number of incidents against the Weyrs, some minor and some major. All seemingly unconnected and yet to Harry and the others it seemed like someone was testing the Weyrs.

"Is he still out there?" Hermione asked quietly.

May nodded, "Yes. He and Lobsang spent an extra three hours alone. They even had Dobby bring them dinner in his office."

"Do you know what they were talking about?"

May shook her head. "No, I arrived back from London just as the Weyrleaders meeting was breaking up."

Hermione's expression brightened. "Oh how did you do?"

May turned away from the window and the curtain fell back into place. She smiled at her sister wife. "My research paper has been approved and I'll have my certificate by the end of the month," she replied happily. "All these years I've been the Weyrhealer, but now I have the degree to back that up."

Hermione closed with May and hugged the girl. She had graduated from Law school a year ago and now spent most of her days writing and reviewing contracts for the Weyr. "I knew you'd get it May!" she exclaimed. "Have you told Harry?"

May chuckled, "He knew. Three days ago when he and I were having our 'quality time', he apologized to me for not paying more attention to what was happening. He's been really worried since Lakoshi was shot."

Hermione smirked at May's phrasing, 'quality time' was a term she invented that May and Harry had adopted. It was so much better than calling it 'shaggin time'.

May walked over to the couch and sat down. "Harry has been preoccupied a lot lately," she admitted a touch unhappily. He always made time for his girls, but sometimes they could tell he was preoccupied by the issues confronting the Weyr and not really concentrating on them.

Hermione joined May on the couch. "I know he has."

The door opened and Harry walked in. He pulled off his flight jacket and wandlessly banished it to the closet, then he turned to both girls and smiled wanly.

"Lobsang has an interesting and very fatalistic approach," he murmured. "You know about the problems we've been having?"

Both girls nodded.

"Then you also know that for the most part, there's no evidence linking any of the problems. It all appears unrelated except that it's happening to us," he said. "I have spent nights trying to puzzle out some connection and I can't see any. When I asked Lobsang, he said, 'in the absence of any real proof that everything is connected, we must wait until such evidence appears.'"

Harry sat heavily in the chair across from the two girls and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like it, but he's right. We have suspicions and no proof and until we have proof there's nothing we can do. Well, almost nothing."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of computer printout paper, then he leaned forward and offered it to May.

"What's this?" she asked as she took the paper. Hermione slid over from her side of the couch to look over May's shoulder.

"Sirius found out which day you're supposed to graduate, so I had Karen book us three a two week stay just outside Athens. I've booked a villa for two weeks, with housekeeping and cooking services. I thought about a hotel, but Chekiath reminded me that many hotels still don't cater to dragons."

May's eyes widened and she looked excitedly at Hermione. "You can get the time off too right?"

Hermione nodded, Athens for two weeks was just what they needed to relax and get away from the constant worrying. She turned back to Harry with a suspicious look. "There's another reason for this isn't there?"

Harry flushed and looked down for a moment, then he nodded. "I realized that I had become too preoccupied with Weyr problems. It took Sirius to remind me about May's graduation, and I know I haven't been exactly setting any records in the bedroom in the last two months," he admitted.

"Harry, all of us have been working very hard. May with her school, plus the infirmary and her degree project. I've been swamped with contract reviews so much so that I'm looking among the riders who are following behind me in law school; hoping to find someone I can bring on early. None of us have set any records, but that's to be expected when we're so busy. I can't speak for May, but you've always been available to satisfy my needs."

Harry watched her carefully, then he glanced over at May who nodded at him. He ran a hand over his head both girls knew it was a sign of his nervousness. It wasn't often that they saw this level of behavior from him and it usually occurred when he had to deal with emotional issues.

"I understand that, but I can't help feeling that I haven't been able to give you both the attention you deserve," he offered.

"So that's why you booked this trip?" May asked.

"That and to celebrate your graduating," Harry replied warily. Despite their assurances, he still felt a lingering guilt because he hadn't had enough time to devote to them.

May stood and walked over to him and unceremoniously sat on his lap. "Well I do think you're wrong about not giving us enough attention, but I'm not going to turn down a trip to Greece. So thank you," she said, then she kissed him on the nose.

Harry blinked in surprise, then he smiled. Both girls were very understanding and that made him a lucky man.

Down the block from the Weyrleader's house Karen Clark woke to find her bed empty again. With a sigh she sat up and threw on her robe, then she shuffled from the room.

"Ronan, come to bed," she said sleepily from the doorway.

Ronan looked up in surprise. "I'm sorry did I wake you?"

Karen frowned. "Yeah by not being in bed," she replied grumpily. She moved closer to him and peered over his shoulder. He was working at his computer and had his CAD program up. "What are you working on?"

"I just finished reviewing that tool for May, you know to clear a blocked egg?"

Karen nodded. The issue had come up several months earlier when an non-bonded dragon died because the egg she was trying to lay became blocked in the birth canal. It happened on occasion and May had figured out it was a result of the egg shell being too thick and hard. Most dragon eggs were leathery and flexible until they came in contact with air which caused the shell to harden.

May asked the Weyr design group if they could design something that could help a dragon without killing the egg.

Ronan's group ended up coming up with two different designs, one that would result in a destroyed egg and one which they hoped would deliver the egg safely. He had argued with May that sometimes the egg might be too big and too hard to safely deliver no matter how much they dilated the birth canal. No one wanted to give up on a potential dragon, but even May understood that she couldn't save every dragon. Reluctantly she agreed to the two different design approaches.

"So do you think it will work?" Karen asked.

Ronan shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Like I explained to May we don't know how much we can force the birth canal open before we start hurting the clutching dragon. I'm afraid it's going to be one of those things that we have to test under fire."

Karen nodded, then she gestured at the screen. "Well that doesn't look like an egg puller."

Ronan grinned. "No, this is something we've been playing with in our spare time. It's just a design right now, but I have some of the guys making a scale model. The real thing will be nearly eighty feet long and will cost us a lot to build."

Karen arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Ronan nodded and hit the save button. He looked at the screen wistfully. "We're probably at least five years away from trying to make one."

He shut down his computer, then he stood and stretched.

"Promise me you'll build every safety feature you can think of into it?" Karen pressed.

Ronan nodded and reached out a hand to caress her belly where a barely noticeable bump was. Karen was pregnant, but it had barely become noticeable. "Sweetheart it's going to be at least five more years before we can build this, but if it will make you feel better, then I promise, for both of you," he said.

Karen shivered delightfully and grabbed his hand. "Come to bed love, lets make love and let me sleep tonight in your arms."

Ronan smiled and let Karen lead him to their bedroom. For the moment medical instruments and flights of fancy were forgotten.

**The Red Sea, May 2005...**

Pokreth soared lazily above the crystal blue waters, his eyes eagerly searching for his quarry. He was a young dragon, a member of Lac Logipi Weyr. It was one of his nest mates that had been killed by the wizards when The Weyrleader came to the Weyr's rescue.

The Kenyan Weyr was thriving under the watchful eye of the The Weyrleader who seemed to hold that particular Weyr close to his heart. While he visited the Weyr infrequently he often spoke with Sorth the senior dragon of the Weyr about problems they were facing. Harry's wives understood that Lac Logipi was turning into a 'test bed' Weyr. It was usually among the first if not the first places Harry selected when initiating any new security or Weyr ward upgrades. May and Hermione were among the few that knew Harry's real reasons for his interest in that Weyr. It was the first place he had willfully ordered the deaths of people and now he felt personally responsible for the Weyr's safety.

Pokreth was from one of Sorth's clutches and he secretly harbored a desire that someday he'd be worthy of being senior dragon like his dam whom he greatly respected. Sorth was greatly respected in the Weyr and among dragons world wide for her close relationship to The Weyrleader.

Pokreth dropped down to roughly five hundred feet, then soared up to over three thousand, all the while looking for the tell tale signs of a dolphin pod. The dolphins of earth were beasts unlike the ones on Pern. They couldn't talk nor could they help the fisher crafthall. When the time of beasts ended the dragons had been shocked to discover that the dolphins of Earth weren't capable of interacting with man like they had on Pern and that put Earth's dolphins on the menu.

It was felt that humans had somehow altered dolphins, making them smarter and capable of communicating, but the humans of today lacked that ability. So for now dolphins were on the menu of many Weyrs, but only sparingly.

Pokreth searched for dolphins perhaps once a month; when he spotted one he'd call to the Weyr and they would come to help him catch enough dolphins to feed at least ten dragons. The dragons were concerned that they didn't over fish the oceans and that meant they only took from the biggest pods or schools of fish and they were careful to avoid taking too many of any species.

In the distance Pokreth spotted a small boat that was billowing smoke from it's stern. He began a gentle descent to investigate when an intense pain struck him from behind and he faltered in the sky. His left wing collapsed and he began to spiral downwards with no way of controlling his flight. A second later instinct kicked in and he jumped Between to escape the pain.

Below the small missile patrol boat turned off it's smoke generator and resumed it's normal course. The commander grinned to himself because their plan was flawless. The plan was simple, distract the dragon by appearing to be a boat in trouble and hope it wouldn't detect the Royal Saudi Air Force F15C coming up behind to shoot an infra-red seeking missile.

Overhead the F15 turned northwest heading back to it's home base at King Fahad Air base in Taif. The pilot knew his mission was a success, but it wouldn't be declared as such until the data and video tapes had been examined by the analysts.

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, August 2005...**

Harry didn't look up when the door to the office opened. He knew his secretary wouldn't allow just anyone into his office and Chekiath was in his spot, watching Harry intently.

"Harry you wanted to see me?" asked Lord Mills.

Harry looked up from the map he had been examining. "James, do come in, just the man I wanted to see."

He waved the older man over to his desk and pointed at a map. James put on his glasses and bent over the map to look at it. The glasses were something new and he personally felt they were a sure sign of impending old age.

"The Red Sea?" he asked, then he looked up at Harry. "What about it?"

"No, not just the sea," Harry replied. "What can you tell me about Saudi Arabia?"

James frowned and sat down in a chair. "Well the Saudis control one of the largest oil fields in the Middle East. Compared to some countries in the region they are considered to be relatively moderate in their political leanings. Of course I don't need to tell you their standing on dragons."

Harry grimaced. "No, you don't need to tell me."

He sat and fiddled with a pen on his desk for a moment. "James, what I'm about to tell you is a Weyr secret, meaning it's known only to the Weyrleaders and a few select others."

James' frown deepened, he had long suspected that the Weyr was keeping secrets, but he never suspected that Harry would openly admit to it. "Harry you know that while I am a great supporter of the Weyr and you personally, my ultimate loyalty lies with my government and country."

Harry nodded. "I know, in fact this is one of those times that I'm counting on just that."

"Oh?"

"In the month of May, a dragon that was hunting for a dolphin pod went missing over the Red Sea. The dragon in question was less than ten years old and in good health. He just upped and vanished without a trace," Harry said grimly. "Then a month later another dragon vanished under similar circumstances. One dragon, it could be from a sudden illness, two dragons makes it doubtful. Earlier last month a third dragon also vanished, only this time she managed to send a message that she had been attacked before jumped Between."

Harry gestured to the map. "Six different countries border the Red Sea and if you take into account each countries claim to territorial waters, they all overlap! The dragons all come from Lac Logipi, they had been fishing the Red Sea for dolphin since their awakening, and now suddenly someone is managing to kill any dragon that goes there."

Harry sat down and clasped his hands on the desk. "I have considered our options carefully and while I could insist that Lac Logipi start fishing in pairs, I cannot rely on un-bonded dragons to identify the source of the attack. I am considering sending a couple of manned wings to see if we can smoke out the attacker and take appropriate action if we do find out who is doing this."

"Harry," James said in a cautionary tone.

Harry held up a hand. "James you cannot deny us our right to defend ourselves. However given what happened the last time we had this kind of problem, I'm taking an alternate path. I am giving you notice that in September, Campbeltown and Lac Logipi will begin joint overflight exercises in the Red Sea. The Weyr does not wish to start a conflict, especially with a country that the United Kingdom is friends with, but..."

He trailed off and shrugged a bit helplessly. James knew exactly what Harry was talking about. It had taken many months to soothe the feathers of the American Government, the Weyr's actions had embarrassed them greatly. Now Harry was once again preparing to thump a possible ally and his government needed to know about it.

James stood. "Then I best see about talking to the Prime Minister as soon as possible."

James turned and headed for the door. He stopped at the door and turned back to Harry. "I hope we can find you another solution," James said.

Harry looked up from his map and smiled grimly. "I hope so too James. I really don't want to fight anyone but I can't ignore this either."

"You know, you really haven't pinned this on the Saudis yet," James offered.

Harry frowned tightly, "I know it, and I promise you I'll not take action without first knowing exactly who's behind it."

"Right, well I best be off. I'll be back as soon as I can," James replied.

Harry watched him leave then he turned back to his map and pulled out a fresh pad of paper to write on. He was hoping the British could help resolve this, but he had to make plans in case they failed.

**Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, August 2005...**

"This was just delivered by courier General," Irina said as she entered his office. In her hands she held a padded manila envelope.

"Ah, excellent. I have been wanting to view this," Sukov replied. He stood and took the envelope from her hands. He carefully opened it with a knife and withdrew a VHS cassette.

"Should I leave General?" Irina asked.

"No Irina. I value your opinion on military matters, your input could be useful," he replied then he placed the tape into a machine and turned on a television. An image appeared, it was in black and white and rather grainy.

"What are we looking at?" Irina asked.

"This is a copy of a gun camera attack film made by a Saudi Arabian F15C on a dragon over the Red Sea," Sukov replied.

"Their camera is better than ours," she offered cautiously.

Sukov grunted in agreement. The optics system onboard the F15C was superior to what the Russians used. It was something he had lobbied for improving for years without success.

"See there? There is the dragon. According to the display the beast is more than five miles away and facing away from the plane. That white spot is what we believe to be the beast's heat source," Sukov said then he pointed to the display. The dragon was clearly visible in the center of the targeting reticule.

Irina leaned closer to the television. The dragon was visible, but it didn't seem look right. "Why does it look so strange?" she asked.

Sukov paused the playback for a moment. "What we are looking at is the Infra-red imaging mode. For some reason dragons do not appear on normal light cameras except under circumstances which we do not yet understand."

"But I saw the video of the British introducing dragons," Irina protested.

Sukov grunted sourly. "Da. It is most puzzling isn't it? Dragons are visible in the infra-red, but they can be invisible to normal cameras."

"Or a pilot's eyes?" asked Irina in disbelief.

"Or a pilot's eyes," Sukov replied unhappily, then he pressed play on the recorder again.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light on the television and when the display returned to normal it was possible to see a smoke trail extending out towards the dragon. The missile sped across the five mile distance in mere seconds and then struck the dragon right hand side, just below the wing joint.

The wing parted from the dragon's side and a few seconds later the dragon vanished from the display. Irina gasped and felt sickened by what she saw. She didn't have anything against dragons and in fact she had watched several bootleg videos about them. There wasn't a lot of information available about dragons in Russia unless you looked at foreign media sources.

The pilot tracked the detached wing for a moment longer before pulling away. The lone piece of the dragon spiraled to the water below. It's presence mute testimony to a dragon who had died at the hands of a human.

The sight of such a majestic creature being killed like that bothered her. For the first time she doubted the wisdom of what her government was doing.

"That is the third time the Saudis have been able to successfully attack a dragon and probably the last," Sukov said.

"The last? Why?"

"They are attracting attention," Sukov explained. "The British have been quietly asking around, most likely because of that Weyrleader of theirs. And no lone dragons have been spotted over the Red Sea since the last attack. Now they always appear in groups of four or two."

Sukov turned back to the envelope and pulled out a thick handful of documents. "Send this and the tape to the analysts, perhaps they can find some useful information though I doubt it."

Sukov turned and went back to his desk where he had been reviewing the plans for new aircraft for the next year.

Irina removed the tape from the machine and took the documents. "I will hand deliver it myself general," she said softly.

Sukov grunted in acknowledgment and she turned and left the office.

Sukov continued working until nearly eight in the evening. Three floors below his office, a member of the night cleaning crew had just finished downloading files from a computer that had been rigged with an extra hard disk and USB port. The man simply plugged in a memory stick to the USB port and it automatically downloaded the information.

It would take a week before the video would be watched in Berlin by an officer of the Bundesnachrichtendienst and another month would pass before the German foriegn intelligence service would share the video with MI6.

**#10 Downing Street, London, ****September 2005...**

Harry stepped from the car and nodded in greeting to the security officer that was holding the door open. He had left Chekiath at Gatwick airport and boarded an armored limousine for the trip to number ten. He had been asked in advance to come without Chekiath so as to not alert the media to his visit. The Prime Minister knew Chekiath would be listening in on the conversation via his bond with Harry and he had no problem with that. He wanted to keep the visit secret, not keep the dragon from participating.

The car had pulled into an underground car park one block away from number ten. It was a special entrance that few knew about. Harry walked the remaining distance in a tunnel that exited in the Prime Minister's residence. There he was quickly ushered into the PM's office.

Tony Blair grinned at Harry and waved him in. Nearby his secretary set up a small tea service. Harry sat next to James on the couch facing the desk. He knew this meeting was going to be serious given that the head of MI6 and the Ministry of the Defense were both present.

"Harry, this is Alfred Winniston's the director of MI6," asked Blair.

Harry leaned forward and shook the man's hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said, then he turned to the other man. "Lord Barstow, it's good to see you again."

"You too Weyrleader. I've been asked to pass along some thanks from our 24th SAS regiment. Your dragons found that missing patrol before we even knew they were in trouble," Barstow said.

Harry nodded. "Since we've widened our patrol patterns we do like to keep an eye out for trouble. One of our patrol spotted the land rover as it flipped over and immediately called in help," Harry replied.

"Yes, good work on that," Blair added. "Yet again you and your dragons have helped save the lives of our servicemen and women."

Blair paused and took a deep breath. "Harry," he said slowly, then he continued. "I appreciate your patience in regard to the Red Sea problem. We had several suspect nations in mind and we were diligently looking into all of them. However I can now say that we have proof of who is behind the attacks."

Harry leaned forward in his seat and eyed Blair intently. "Proof?"

Blair gestured towards Winniston, "Alfred would you do the honors?"

Winniston arched an eyebrow at Blair who nodded in return.

"Yes well it should come as no real surprise that the various intelligence agencies around the world sometimes share information they come across, usually in return for a future favor. For example, what you're about to see is a copy of a video obtained by theBundesnachrichtendienst."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"The German Foriegn Intelligence service," Winniston said in clarification.

Harry nodded.

"We don't know exactly how the Germans obtained this video, but we were told it came from an asset in the Russian Ministry of Defence. Its a digital copy and our technology boys have enhanced it a little. It was pretty fuzzy to begin with, probably because it was a copy of a copy," Winniston said, then he picked up a remote and pointed it at a monitor on the wall.

Harry crossed his arms and watched in silence as the pilot spoke to someone in a language he didn't understand. There was a dragon in the distance and he could see the pilot lining up his aircraft. The screen bloomed white for a few seconds then it faded away and you could see the missile contrail streaking towards the dragon.

No one spoke as the missile exploded, ripping away the dragon's wing. Harry knew there was considerably more damage than just the wing by the way the shape of the dragon had changed. He closed his eyes in pain and shook his head. "Merciful Goddess," he muttered. The images sickened him and it took all his willpower to control his urge to be sick.

"_Harry?"_ Chekiath asked in alarm.

"_I'm fine mate,"_ he replied mentally. _"I just had to watch something very disturbing."_

"I didn't recognize the language," Harry said finally.

"You were right when you suspected the Saudis," Blair said softly. "There were some other possibilities, but this tape is what our yank friends would call a 'smoking gun'."

"Quite so," added Winniston. "Apparently the fighter was working on concert with a small patrol boat which wasn't visible on the tape. Like many naval vessels, the patrol boat has the ability to generate a lot of smoke. It's a technique rarely used any more, but the idea is to hide the boat in the smoke confusing enemy gunners. In this case however the smoke was used to make it appear as if the boat was in trouble. With the dragon's attention fixed on the boat, it was easy for the fighter to surprise the dragon and get a shot off."

Harry leaned back on the couch and stared at the now still image of a dragon plummeting to her doom. His anger was clearly visible to everyone. He then reached into a pouch tied to his belt and removed a small book and quickly thumbed through it. "The dragons have standing orders not to approach the north side of the Red Sea."

"Could any of them have strayed?" asked Winniston.

Harry looked up from his book and shook his head. "Doubtful for two reasons. A dragon always knows where he is in the air at all times, and they know not to approach the Saudi coast line just like they know not to fly over Iraqi or North Korean airspace. They might not be able to work with maps, but once one dragon has flown the limits, they all know where the restricted space is."

"And they know those limits?"

"Oh yes, Campbeltown ran a series of airspace flights shortly after I spoke at the United Nations in New York," Harry said, then he glanced down at the book again. "Who owns the Red Sea?" he finally asked.

Blair sighed and shook his head. "Harry, that question is a troubling one. Several nations lay claim to the area and depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers. If your dragons have been fishing off the coast of say the Sudan, then the Saudis are encroaching on another country's territorial waters. The problem is that every country bordering that body of water lays claim to territorial waters that overlap with every other country."

"There's not enough visible land in that video to say where it happened," Lord Barstow pointed out. "For all we know from that video it could have happened near Sicily."

Harry grunted sourly, but he had to acknowledge Lord Barstow's point. It wasn't possible from that video to pinpoint where it happened. "Well since the Red Sea is contested I suppose I can order the dragons to keep within sight of the southern shore. Even if they flew a couple of kilometers in altitude, that would still put the southern coast line within twenty five kilometers."

"Why would you do that? Now that you know what happened, shouldn't you just avoid the area?" pressed Winniston.

Harry stared at the man for a moment. "I find myself in an unenviable position," he said finally. "I cannot allow anyone to kill a dragon and get away with it, and yet I am not willing to engage in a conflict when the guilty party is still up to doubt. I am unwilling to engage the Saudis unless they attack us first and Lac Logipi relies on the ability to fish those waters to augment their diet."

He paused and scratched his head for a moment, clearly considering his words carefully. "The area is a political nightmare. The United States has declared the security of the Persian Gulf region to be part of it's national interests, so should the dragons attack the Saudis, it could affect the US as well as the UK. Finally any weakening of the Saudi military may be sufficient to allow some extremist group to take over, they may be more moderate than some Arab states, but they are by no means secure."

Harry paused and took a deep breath. "I am tempted to adopt an Israeli policy of an eye for an eye," he said finally.

Blair blinked in surprise, Harry's analysis of problems he was facing were spot on.

"What do you mean?" asked Lord Mills.

Harry looked over to James and smiled grimly. "They've killed three dragons. The Israelis would shoot down three of their planes in response. If we went looking for their trap...," he replied then smiled grimly leaving the others to consider his implied course of action. If the Weyr found the trap, they would take action.

"Harry," James said in caution.

"It's a sound idea my lord," Lord Barstow said softly, interrupting Lord Mills. "He's not talking about actively attacking unless certain conditions are met. It is a precept of international law that every nation is legally able to defend itself."

"Nation yes, but these are dragons!" protested Winniston.

Harry turned a hard gaze toward Winniston. "Dragons are a nation sir," he said coldly. "We may be a scattered people but we are more than capable of acting in concert like any true nation. If you don't believe me, just ask the American's how they felt when their airbases were shut down by dragons that appeared without warning."

"We happily live within your country and follow your laws for the most part, but the dragons are an independent entity, granted autonomy by your Queen and your government. The dragons will defend ourselves against all enemies. We will not willingly start a conflict, but we won't run from a fight either."

Winniston stared at Harry in shock. He had never really considered the implications of the relationship Britain had with the dragons before. Harry's word had driven home exactly what they had within their borders.

"And if the Saudis back off?" pressed Blair, trying to get the meeting back on track.

Harry shrugged. "Tony I understand what kind of pressure this puts on you, but you need to understand we have to do something. I'll make a deal with you and promise we'll take action only after someone fires another missile. Now that we know what's going on, no missile should catch a dragon that's on alert for it. If you want, you can inform the Saudis that we know what they are doing and intend to take action if it's not stopped. Warn them in the strongest possible terms that the Weyrs will not sit idly by while they kill our kind.

"If no one shoots at a dragon, then we'll do nothing. They are already on our list of countries that are denied dragon products, so we can't do anything economically to them."

Barstow barked a laugh and shook his head. "Weyrleader, you are producing a product and service that is having a significant impact on their economy. Refusing to sell them portable heaters, generators and insulating products is the least of their worries.

"Our analysts had been predicting the Saudi oil fields would be tapped dry by 2070 and the Saudis were doing a marvelous job of ignoring that fact unlike some other Arab nations. Now my same analysts are suggesting those fields might never run dry as the demand for oil drops."

Blair loosened his tie slightly in relief. "So let me see if I understand you. You intend to put some dragons on patrol over the Red Sea, but will do nothing until a dragon has been fired upon?"

"Essentially, yes," Harry replied. "But if possible I would like to prevail upon the British Government to make our position clear to the Saudis as well as the Americans. Finally I ask that you release a copy of that tape to the Weyr."

Blair winced, releasing that tape to the Weyr could cause a problem with the Germans.

"Why do you need that Weyrleader?" Winniston asked.

Harry turned to face the man. "Not all wars are fought on the battlefield Mr. Winniston. If we do encounter a situation that requires us to take action, the Weyr will release that video to the public to explain our actions. I understand you wish to protect the source, so the Weyr would simply say it came from a source inside the Saudi military and we have no wish to endanger that source. The court of world opinion will be where we really face this challenge."

"My God, the Saudis will be roasted alive," Barstow said. "Releasing that video, taken over a month ago will show everyone that the Saudis fired first. Even the Yanks can't complain when the evidence is there for all to see."

Harry nodded in agreement, but he had a plan to ensure that this video wouldn't be the sole source of evidence available.

"Thank you for your honesty and candor Harry," Blair said. "I will arrange to speak with both the American and Saudi ambassadors this week. I would appreciate if you did nothing until at least Friday?"

"I don't think we'll be ready by Friday Tony, it'll take us some time to get organized," Harry replied.

"Thank you Harry, and thank you for coming here today. There'll be a car waiting to take you back to Gatwick."

Harry nodded and stood, then he turned and walked from the room.

Blair waited until the door closed, then he turned to the others. "Opinions?"

"He's a real wild card," Winniston said in annoyance. "Can't we get a tighter control on him?"

"He's not that bad," Barstow countered. "He's looking for solutions that won't injure anymore dragons, but he's right that he has to do something. If you don't set a precedent people will walk all over you. I think we're going to see a very measured and deliberate response over this and I wouldn't be surprised if the Saudis take a major hit internationally over it."

Blair turned to Mills. "James, you know him best, what do you think?"

James placed his cup of tea on the coffee table and leaned forward. "The Weyrleader is a very complex person," he said carefully. "I've watched him growing up from a boy who was buying my sheep in the middle of the night to a leader of a nation of a people. Make no mistake, the dragons are a people and Harry Potter is their leader.

"He seems to be a young inexperienced person, but that is far from the truth. He's led his dragons in battle to defend our country from a major terrorist attack and orchestrated several of the most efficient international rescue efforts in recent memory. Through all of this he's been guided by one principle, the safety of his riders and dragons come first and foremost."

James paused and added some more tea to his cup. "He does not want to fight anyone, but he's been trained by our best in politics and diplomacy. That means he understands that he needs to take action otherwise people will not take him seriously."

He stirred his cup absently and the others sensed he wasn't finished. "I think you can count on Harry to do exactly what he says. The dragons have introduced a complexity to global politics that I expect would give anyone a headache. If I had to hazard a guess, if he releases that video, he'll do so with a lot more footage than what we give him. He'll present the world with a case that is airtight and damning."

Tony Blair snorted and nodded in reply.

"And despite that, there is no doubt in my mind," James continued, "that the problems dragons pose are insignificant to the benefits. For example the Central African Republic has placed an order for one hundred large portable power stations. They will be bringing power to towns and villages that have never seen electrical power before. Harry agreed to help fund the purchase in exchange for space to set up a Weyr. That's just one thing, but it's typical of what Harry's been doing. They will get power for some of their largest villages and we all know that with power, people's lives will be improved.

"In return the Harry will be able to move one of the Weyrs to a more hospitable location. That typifies what Harry Potter The Weyrleader wants to do. He wants to help his dragons and help people, not make war."

Blair blew out an explosive breath. "Well it does tend to see us lead interesting lives. I am comforted by the fact that he recognizes that he needs to work within a complex diplomatic framework. None of us work in a vacuum anymore I'm afraid. I'm just glad he understands that."

Blair turned to Barstow. "Just the same Fred, I think it might be prudent to run a right of passage exercise in the Red Sea. If something does happen, we'll be there to witness it first hand."

Barstow nodded. "I'll see the orders are cut. We have several units in the Mediterranean right now that we can send to the area."

"That's it? That's all you intend to do? Send a few ships to observe?" exclaimed Winniston.

Blair shrugged, "Realistically this isn't an issue which concerns Her Majesty's government Alfred you know that. That it involves a government we consider to be a friend is cause for concern, but unlike the Yanks, we have no doctrines or treaties to worry over. Oh we'll get involved diplomatically because The Weyrleader asked us to, and in exchange he's agreed to moderate his response. I don't need to remind you Alfred that you've been briefed on the full range of dragon abilities, do you really want the Weyr to be tempted to alter history in their favor?"

"He'd never," Mills said angrily.

Blair shot him a silencing glare, "I know that Lord Mills, but I'm trying to make a point here. The Weyr has access to a weapon more powerful than any nuclear device ever made. My predecessor told me that the Weyr could easily send a dozen dragons back one hundred years and completely alter the course of history. No weapon we've ever designed could do that, and we have no defense against it except to treat the Weyrs well enough that they would never need consider such a move."

"He's right about that," Barstow said softly. "The few top analysts in the MOD that know about the dragon's time traveling ability have told me quite bluntly that we can't beat that."

Winniston snorted in derision and Barstow turned to face him. "You don't understand Alfred. We'd need to kill all of the dragons simultaneously. My people think that just one dragon surviving can jump back, even just a handful of years and change everything. Or worse the dragon could go back two hundred years and awaken the other dragons and we'd end up with the dragons ruling us. We'd have no defense against a dragon attack if it came prior to 1900. Frankly I'm not sure we could mount a viable defense against dragons with our forces today."

"And I'll state again, the Weyr will never do any such thing, Harry wouldn't even consider it," James said vehemently.

Barstow turned to James. "Aye, I happen to agree with you my lord, but you know that it's my job to evaluate threats and develop plans to deal with them. The Weyrleader is a wizard however much he tries to ignore it, that means if we're really lucky we're going to see his reign extend for more than a century given his lifespan. Alliances ebb and flow with national interests, but for now and for the foreseeable future I don't believe the Weyr will be a threat to us."

Blair sighed and for the millionth time he wished the head of MI6 didn't have a manic paranoia about everyone. It was as if the person selected for the slot automatically became paranoid. "Thank you for your time today gentlemen. Alfred please see that a copy of that video makes it's way to the Weyr."

Winniston nodded curtly, he still wasn't convinced about the Weyr, but then that was his job. The men filed from Blair's office and the Prime Minister turned to the next issue he needed to deal with.

**Glasgow Royal Infirmary, September 2005...**

The elevator door opened and Harry and Lee Jordan stepped out first. Hermione and May followed close behind all looking very apprehensive. Harry paused and looked around before spotting a very pregnant Karen Clark tensely shredding a magazine while she sat waiting on information about her husband.

Harry had been in Kenya, overseeing Division one setting up at Lac Logipi when the emergency call came through. He had left Draco in charge while he returned to Scotland with Lee, and May. Hermione met them at Glascow since she had been busy with some important contract talks in Campbeltown at the time.

It was nearly seven in the evening local time and Harry had arrived with the others as soon as they were able to break away from setting up the encampment they would be using. Harry had heard about the accident hours earlier, but had also been advised by Issac that there was nothing he could do to help matters. Rushing home would have served no purpose.

Harry turned and walked up to Karen and had to gently shake her shoulder before she noticed them. "Karen?" he said gently. "Karen."

She looked up in surprise. "Harry? What are you doing here? I thought you were in Kenya?"

Harry shook his head. "We came back as soon as we heard about the accident. How is he?"

Karen glanced up at a clock on the wall and her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know, he's been in surgery for eight hours now," she replied, then she looked at Harry pleadingly. "He was just supervising a milling machine delivery, he's done a dozen of them! How could this happen?"

"I don't know Karen, but we'll find out," Harry said, trying to reassure her.

"It was just an accident Karen, one of the cables on the lift snapped. The machine came down right on his hand," Lee added. Lee had spoken to Mariah who told him more about the accident. She was pregnant again and running the Weyr Public affairs office while Lee oversaw the office's efforts in Africa. "There are some people investigating it, but it was just an accident."

Ronan's design group had been busy installing a new computerized milling machine when the accident happened. The group turned out a number of specialized items for the Weyrs and the new machine would have increased their manufacturing capacity. In fact they turned out so much equipment each month even Lord Mills no longer thought it was unusual for them to be buying up heavy fabrication equipment.

Hermione and May sat next to Karen, bracketing the woman and Hermione put her arm around Karen's shoulders.

"Karen, no matter what happens, the Weyr will take care of you and Ronan, you know that," Harry said.

She nodded absently as if she really wasn't hearing him. Her gaze was fixed on a set of double doors leading towards the surgery area. "But this, now. Two more months and the baby is due," she said in anguish.

"And your husband will be there to help with the delivery," added a new voice.

Karen looked up in surprise and shot to her feet when she spotted a surgeon standing in the open doorway. The man looked tired and sweaty, it had been a long and grueling procedure and now he had the hard part, delivering the news to the family.

"Mrs. Clark?" he asked. "I'm Doctor Cristos, I'm the surgeon that just finished working on your husband."

"How is he?"

Hermione and May stood and each placed a hand on Karen's shoulders.

The doctor noted the others around Mrs. Clark and arched an eyebrow.

"These are friends of my husband and myself," Karen said. "Fellow dragon riders."

Cristos nodded. "Yes well your husband arrived here with four fingers amputated and his hand pretty well crushed. Initially we were concerned by his loss of blood volume but we quickly got him transfused and prepped for surgery."

Cristos paused and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid the news is mixed at best. We pieced the bones back together in his hand as best as we could, but there was considerable damage. We were able to reattach two of the four fingers, but the rest of his hand was too badly damaged to allow us to attach the other two. I'm afraid he lost his pinky and ring finger. The next seventy two hours will be critical to seeing if he can maintain adequate blood flow to the reattached fingers. If not..."

Cristos trailed off and shrugged.

"And if he can?" pressed Harry.

"Then the fingers will survive," Cristos replied. "But that doesn't guarantee they will be functional. I'm afraid Mr. Clark is in for months of rehabilitation in any case. Right now I am reasonably comfortable with saying that I think his fingers will survive, I believe we have managed to restore good blood flow. If you want a guess as to how much functionality he'll recover, ask me again in four months when he's had time to undergo therapy and we've had a chance to see if the nerves are reestablishing connection."

"Can I see him?" asked Karen timidly.

Cristos frowned for a moment before replying. "Briefly. They will be moving him to recovery in a few minutes. He's still unconscious from the anesthesia and I don't expect him to wake until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I'll let you have a few minutes with him in the corridor, then I want you to go home and try to rest. Your husband is going to need your support and you don't need to be stressing your pregnancy. Your husband is alive and will survive this and that is what you have to focus on."

"We'll help her," May said and Karen shot her a grateful look.

A pair of doors opened nearby and two nurses and an orderly pushed a bed with Ronan on it into the corridor. The doctor motioned to them and they stopped and waited. Karen glanced at the bed and paled, then she took a deep calming breath and approached the bed. Hermione and May followed not too closely behind her.

Ronan lay on the bed, a monitor between his legs was beeping softly. His right arm was in a cast that extended from his wrist to his elbow and his hand was heavily bandaged and rested on a pillow. His complexion was nearly white, but he seemed to be breathing steadily and strongly on his own.

"Doctor," Harry said, "please inform your director that there will be a few dragons in attendance while Ronan is here. Garanoth is very agitated by the loss of connection to his rider. Once Ronan wakes up it will reestablish itself and he'll calm down but even I couldn't order him to leave his rider's side for long right now. I promise that there will always be a rider and several dragons here who will help keep Garanoth calm."

"Yes I heard what happened when you were hospitalized here Weyrleader. In fact one of our residents has been hoping to speak to someone at the Weyr. He hopes to put together a guide for other hospitals to use when treating dragon riders."

"That's a right good idea," Lee muttered, then he pulled out his wallet and extracted a business card which he handed to Cristos. "Give this to him and have him email me to set up an appointment. I'll see about arranging for our Weyr doctor to be present as well."

Cristos nodded gratefully, then he turned to join Karen at Ronan's bed side.

Harry waited until the doctor was out of hearing then he swore softly. "Hecate's teats this is all we need," he swore, then he turned to Lee. "Ask Nancy from Div 2, Wing 2 to schedule some of her people so that someone is always here to help control the dragons."

"What about a press release? You know people are going to want to hear about this." Lee asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, we'll have to do that as well given Ronan's position. It's well known that he's my second, we'll have to announce something. I'll have to talk to James too, I don't know but I think we're supposed to report accidents like this. This is just a cock up that we don't need right now."

"Who will take over Division Two?"

Harry frowned. "I will keep an eye on it. Kelly Prichard will be nominally in charge however, everyone else is already up to their eyeballs with tasks. Ronan can have it back when he's ready."

"It's a shame Madam Pomfrey can't regrow limbs on muggles," Lee offered softly.

Harry grunted sourly. He had already spoken to Issac upon returning to the Weyr. Magic will be able to help Ronan's recovery, but it can't regrow lost limbs on muggles. As it stood Magic could barely regrow limbs on wizards and the process was said to be so painful, most wizards opted not to undergo it.

"You heard the doctor, Ronan is going to be out of action for months and he may never return to full capacity," Harry said, "This may be the first time, but it won't be the last time that a rider will become injured badly enough to be unable to perform their regular duties. We're going to need to address that."

Harry fell silent for a moment while he considered things. Even the rider who had been shot in Japan eventually recovered fully. Ronan would be the first to receive a crippling injury in the line of duty.

Lee shook his head, "He still has his design group," he offered.

Harry paused and glanced over to where Karen stood next to Ronan. "This is such a stupid waste," he muttered then he turned back to Lee. "Get together with James and let's survey the rider's families again. Ronan's injury could have been avoided if we had people with more experience in an industrial setting. There must be family members with engineering and manufacturing experience that we can tap to help us. Hell, hire them on as supervisors to help keep us from killing ourselves. Right now we have Ronan and the others, still fresh out of college and still learning the practical skills. Hiring on some people to help is bound to help prevent accidents like this. Let's check the families first, then we'll branch out to hire others if need be."

Lee blinked in surprise, then he said, "You know, that isn't a bad idea Harry. I think... oh hold on a moment, here comes Karen."

Harry turned to Karen and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"I guess I don't need to tell you that Ronan won't be able to perform his duties?" she said softly. Her eyes were red from crying and Harry could see that she was barely holding together.

"Karen," he replied gently. "Ronan is a rider and will always be a rider. The Weyr will see he gets the best care and we'll see you and your baby also get the best care."

"And if he can't ride again?" she whispered.

Harry frowned. "Karen Clark you listen to me. Your husband is a rider, Garanoth is still his dragon and nothing will change that. If he has trouble performing his duties, we'll help him until he can, or we'll find new duties for him. As of now I'll take over Division Two on a temporary basis. I am confident he will return to lead the division. Besides, his second has been trained to handle most of the issues so I'll just oversee what Kelly does until Ronan can take over."

Harry missed the sour expressions that flitted across Hermione and May's faces at that pronouncement. Karen's doubts about Ronan annoyed him and he was concentrating on her. He was certain that his division leader would recover and return to his job.

Harry paused and his voice dropped lower. "Even if he couldn't ride Garanoth again, it wouldn't change the fact that he is a rider. He's our brother and your husband and I think you're not giving yourself or him enough credit. Ronan will recover and he'll ride again. Until that time the Weyr will stand behind you both and do everything we can to help."

Karen nodded and looked down, shamed by Harry's words. She had been doubting and for a brief moment worried that Ronan's injury might force them to leave the Weyr. She had visions of Ronan being unable to mount his dragon with only one good hand and in her fear and worry over Ronan, she had forgotten the unique bond and brotherhood they all shared.

Harry stepped closer and pulled Karen into a hug. She immediately broke into tears and he shot a pleading glance towards May and Hermione who smirked at him for a moment before coming over and taking Karen from his arms. Hermione let May lead Karen over to a couch while she went to see if she could find a calming cup of tea for their friend.

"Cheki?"

"_Yes Harry?"_

"How is Garanoth?"

"_We're up on the roof of the healing place. Neruth is here and Garanoth is listening to her. Garanoth is very upset but Neruth is helping him think __calmly__,"_ replied Cheki.

Harry thought for a moment, "Bespeak to Dronth and have him send two horntails to stay with Neruth and Garanoth. We are going to start patrolling the Red Sea in two days with Lac Logipi and I'm going to need you with me."

"_Of course you need me. You can't fly without my help you know,"_ Cheki replied with amusement, _"I'll talk to Dronth right away."_

Harry shook his head ruefully while Lee chuckled at his conversation. Dragons loved their riders intensely, but also enjoyed pointing out their shortcomings as often as possible. If pressed, each rider would admit that they thought the dragons really pitied the humans inability to fly or breath fire.

Harry walked over to where May and Karen sat and he handed May his wallet. She looked up at him curiously. "There is a hotel just down the block, take Karen there and check her in for a least a week. If you and Hermione want to stay with her, or call her family and ask for them to come over. I don't want her alone if possible, just remember that we're going to need you, May, when the division goes on patrol."

May understood. Harry's personal wealth had grown tremendously despite the fact that he mostly ignored it. He wanted her to use his credit card rather than charging it to her account, or to the Weyr.

Harry knew Hermione could spend some time with Karen since she had to stay in Campbeltown and help with some important contracts that the Weyr was negotiating.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries:**

* A number of people wanted some clarification about May and her fainting spell after the bonding. May shared magic with five very magical beings, including Britain's latest mage. What does that mean for May, well she now has the ability of... well nothing. May has been squibbed, just like every other non-magical that bonded with a magical.

Milicent's two husbands, both of whom were muggles bonded with Milicent and the dragons. They are now squibs too. That means that they can see ghosts and dementors, but there are no ghosts or dementors at Campbeltown.

May gained no abilities to speak of. **She is NOT a witch.** But I do hear she can make a wonderful soufle if that helps.

* There was quite a reaction to us making the United States the bad guys and it was all over the political spectrum, from the obvious (and oblivious) republicans, to the folks that reluctantly voted for that idiot to the people that wouldn't vote for him to save their lives.

I chose to make them the bad guys because following 9/11 we were in a state of paranoia that we still haven't fully recovered from. I chose to make the Bush administration the bad guy because of the things they did in name of 'national security' still echo today. What they did in the story is something I truly believe they would have done.

Alyx adds, "Ah, the Bush years in the White House. I'm not sure there's ever been an 8 year stretch in history that's given late night comics more fodder than Bush did. For that, we should all be thankful. Let's face it, it's the ONLY thing we have to be thankful about when it comes to Bushy-boy!"

* A number of people, mainly Oregonians, have complained that I have moved Mt. Hood into Washington state. First off, Mt Hood has been in Washington since book one and no one complained then. Secondly the Oregonians need to wake up and understand that they lost their war with Washington and have been absorbed into Greater Washagon.

Nuf said.

Alyx added; "My comments on Mt. Hood's new location. First, my husband is geographically challenge. Second, it took you guys two stories plus 10 chapters to SPOT it? What's a matter with you slackers?! Third, I've beaten him about the head and shoulders for his mistake. Mostly because I enjoy it."

* One person piped in on Knik Glacier being very hospitable. Honestly we were surprised that someone from Alaska was reading this. I thought they spent their days chasing moose off their front lawns and hiding from the rest of the country in embarrassment for Sarah Palin. Seriously though, a lot of locales in this story are found using a mix of Google Earth and some net searching. The images of Knik glacier didn't show any structures or roads. The only things I saw were the bigfoot tracks, but we ignored them.

* Caspian123 wrote an interesting review which made no sense at all. Then he tried to explain it away in an email as the review getting messed up. Yah. I'll believe his email, but Alyx still thinks he's on Meth... or toothpaste.

Alyx says "I guess it was nice of you to send Bob an email with your non-drug fueled review. However, I've got to work with what you gave me. My advice? Stop sniffing the toothpaste my friend. I did that once and THERE WERE NINJAS ON THE LAWN! NINJAS!" ~Dives into the closet and slams the door closed~

* Impstar, one does not easily walk away from a half billion dollars worth of contracts. Diplomacy and politics means that even when someone pisses you off, you may have important reasons to continue working with them. There are things going on behind the scenes in Condron that the Weyrs need and do not want to have to start over elsewhere.

The following replies were supplied by Alyx. Go there at your own risk.

* Alifromnm: You graduated in 1994, yet Watergate was your teenage years? Watergate was 1972, so 1994 minus 1972...Damn this new fangled math! So, wanna tell us why you spent 22 years trying to graduate? You get an A for persistence, if nothing else. :D

* Everpresent: Bush + spanking should NEVER be in the same sentence. EVER. Thank you so much for that horrible mental image. Bastard!

* Wakiyamani: I feel as you do when it comes to folks who say that you shouldn't vote if you don't like the candidates. However, I don't think voting for the "lesser of two evils" is right either. If you don't like the selection, they have this nifty little line to write in your own choice. Try it! It's fun! I tried to get Bob elected as a county judge. I figured it would save me on legal expenses. :D

* Tommy Gonne: That's not a fruit cake, my friend. It's a rock. And proper English does NOT include extraneous letters! What is it with Brits and the letter "u" in places it doesn't need to be?!

* Shaggy37: Will we see any more issues created by America? ~Stares at you~ Seriously? It's America – we butt into everything. Oh, you mean as far as the story goes? Wait and see, Rabbit!

* Sparrownightmare: Mmmm...the 10th Doctor. He's yummy. Though I also liked the 9th! Also very yummy – even with the ears. But NO CROSSOVERS! :D

* Red-Jacobson: RED! ~Pounces on you and gives you a noogie~ You know better than to ask for spoilers! But I'll answer you anyway – read and find out. :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Standard Disclaimer:**

The curtain pulled back on a scene of domestic bliss. Bob sat on a chair in front of the kitchen sink scrubbing the dirty dishes and muttering vile curses to himself.

"Have you finished the dishes yet?" Alyx screeched from off stage.

Bob bowed his head in defeat. "Not yet dear," he replied.

Alyx's head popped out from one side and she glared at him. "I told you it was your turn to do the dishes six weeks ago! But did you listen to me? We'll have finger food, you said, it'll be great, you said. Four god-damned weeks of Ding Dongs and Potato chips and I'm sick of it! I want a real meal. You should have let me buy that dish washer!"

Bob put down the scrubber and turned to glare at Alyx. "That dish washer was a French guy named Jacques who only wore a thong! And he couldn't even cook! I thought they taught everyone over there cooking! But no, you just wanted wet beefcake."

Alyx blinked and growled. "Don't mention beef! I would kill for a roast!"

Bob smiled evilly, "I hear the neighbors bought themselves a new calf last week."

Alyx returned the grin. "Let me get my gun," she replied, then she disappeared.

Bob turned back to the mound of dishes and pulled out a particular noxious plate. Using a knife he peeled off the four week old potato skin that was glowing orange from the mold. He sniffed the skin and blanched, then he slid the moldy skin into a plastic baggie.

"I'll save that for Alyx's salad. If she complains I'll just tell her Jacques sent her his special croutons creation," he muttered.

Bob turned to the audience. "While I return to my domestic bliss, why don't you read the chapter. Oh and we don't own Harry Potter or the dragon riders and if we did, we'd have a real dish water, Frieda, the naked German singing dishwater and I know she can cook too!"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 12  
First Blood **

* * *

**Lac Logipi Weyr, Late September 2005...**

Harry dropped lightly from Chekiath and hit the ground. He pulled off his riding cap and resisted the urge to throw it to the ground in frustration. This had been their seventh day of patrolling the Red Sea with nothing to show for their efforts other than several bad sunburns and one bad case of sun stroke.

The Saudis had been up with their aircraft, but thus far they had not engaged the dragons from Lac Logipi Weyr much to Harry's frustration. In fact the Saudi aircraft never ventured more than a mile or two away from their coast line while Harry and his group kept the Sudan in sight while the dragons from Lac Logipi fished.

The dragons of Lac Logipi were enjoying the change in diet. Usually a dragon in that small Weyr might get to enjoy dolphin once a year, but in the past week every dragon had managed to get one.

May reluctantly stepped out from a nearby tent that she was sharing with Lisa Turpin. Instantly her thin khaki shirt and shorts were plastered to her as the heat and humidity struck her like a physical blow.

The tent that May and Lisa shared was cooled magically to a comfortable level, but outside it was roasting. Both women had set up a temporary clinic to deal with human and dragon problems. May had storage rooms and a small office in the tent while Lisa had the rest of the space reserved with beds for any riders. So far she had only two patients, a rider with a bad case of sun stroke and another with an infection. With help from Issac, Lisa was working to stabilize her patients so they could be taken Between back to Campbeltown.

May had even fewer patients at the moment and she hoped that wouldn't change anytime soon.

May walked over to Harry and handed him a chilled bottle of water. He smiled in thanks and nearly drank half the bottle then he poured the remainder over his head. "No luck?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, there were a few Saudi air force jets up, including some kind of radar jet, but I think the back door warning via the British might have scared them off for now. They ignored our fishing dragons completely. I'm fairly certain they didn't detect us, we stayed out of range of their infra-red capabilities and the dragons were disillusioned."

"I know why we're here Harry, but I hope we don't have to fight anyone," she replied softly. "Have you heard from Hermione?"

He shook his head. "Its not easy getting a signal flying over the Red Sea, is there a problem?"

May smiled at him and shook her head. "No, no problem. She'll be here in a few hours with some news for you."

Harry paused and pondered that. He couldn't think of a single reason for Hermione to join them in Kenya, she and Maggie Shepard were busy negotiating a contract with Fiat. The Italian auto maker wanted to experiment with some new engine designs powered by hot rocks. Right now the plan was to design engines for large trucks and buses, but there existed a possibility of eventually getting the engine size down to something that would fit a passenger car. Harry really wanted to see that contract closed, there had been several attempts at hot rock powered vehicles but so far none had reached the market.

He shrugged, "Very well, I'm going to check in with the wing leaders. None of the dragons have complained about any problems, but Lisa is going to have her hands full with sun burn cases."

"I'll let her know. Thanks to that potion recipe from Madam Pomfrey we can quickly fix them up," May offered.

Harry nodded and quietly grasped her hand for a moment, then he turned and walked over to where the wing leaders were assembling around a large cooler of cold drinks.

May smiled to herself. Harry was a very private individual unlike some riders and he rarely exhibited any public displays of affection. A hand squeeze from Harry was sufficient for both girls because they knew that once they were alone he could be very affectionate. May and Hermione knew they were really married to two men. The Weyrleader was the public face of the Weyrs worldwide, but Harry came out when they were behind closed doors.

It warmed the hearts of both girls to know that they were the ones who really saw Harry Potter the man, instead of the Weyrleader.

Draco looked up from a discussion and he waved when he spotted Harry coming closer. "Another wasted day," he offered with an apologetic shrug.

"Yeah I'm beginning to think that asking the British to warn the Saudis that we would take action if it happened again was a mistake on my part," Harry admitted. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "I also didn't count on this heat being this bad."

Draco nodded, unlike Harry, he had only been on patrol for four hours and even then, the riders had taken to dipping into Between every ten minutes to cool down. The weather the last few days had been clear and cloudless and very hot. The heat radiating off of the surface of the Red Sea actually added a few extra degrees of discomfort for the wings flying at five hundred feet. The wings were constantly adjusting their formation and altitude, but generally they were staying under one thousand feet.

"It's been a hot one alright, but we're dealing with it," Draco offered. "I just wish Michelle were here."

Harry grunted sourly, Draco and Michelle had married a year before he married May and Hermione. Michelle was pregnant with their first child, but Issac had down checked her for this mission because of her pregnancy. Given what they knew about life on Pern, Issac had decided to play it safe and automatically grounded any woman who was entering their third trimester of pregnancy from going Between. There was no real science behind that decision, but no one wanted to risk the lives of the women and their babies to chance. What they knew for certain was that Between had adverse effects on pregnant women on Pern.

Issac pointed out that Pern's medical abilities were not as advanced as modern medicine and magical healing, but he still wanted to err on the side of caution.

For Harry this meant that nearly a third of the female first riders were down at the moment, having their first, or in a few cases, their second baby. Harry wouldn't dream of interfering with that, but in the case of Draco and Michelle, she was his wing second. Her absence left Draco with a hole in his tactical roster and a rider that wasn't used to being Draco's wing second.

Harry looked around at the assembled Wing leaders. He had brought all of Division One with him, five manned wings in all. The rest remained back in Campbeltown, waiting for Harry to call them. He had plans to include more than one division, but having experienced the heat of Kenya he opted to keep everyone other than the main division back in Scotland.

"Any problems today?" he asked.

Most of the Wing Leaders shook their heads. "Just the usual Harry, some cases of sunburn. Hopping Between seemed to help prevent any further cases of heat stroke," replied Lee easily. The others nodded in agreement to Lee's statement.

Harry spotted Lisa approaching and he motioned her over. "Lisa? Do you have anything for me?"

"Just one thing Harry, I'm sending Adrianne Pace back to Campbeltown for Issac to look over. She's got a swelling in her left leg and a high fever that might be from an insect bite. Considering all of the things around here that can be bad for us, I don't want to take any chances. Willy Newman is also going back to Campbeltown. He's no longer suffering from Heat stroke, but I'd rather not risk him having it again," she said a bit uncertainly. Lisa was still attending school, working on becoming a medical doctor so she only spent a few hours per day here before going back to Scotland to attend classes. She was determined to be the first homegrown Weyr doctor and was not the only rider taking graduate courses for advanced degrees.

Harry turned to look at Abbey Rhodes, wing leader for Wing five. "Abbey? With Adrianne and Mirriath gone you'll be down three riders will this pose a problem for you?"

Wing five had been tasked with maintaining security over Lac Logipi just in case the Saudis opted to switch tactics. As far as anyone knew, the Weyr's location was still unknown to everyone, but no one was taking chances anymore. Three dragons were dead and everyone was treating this as the threat it was.

Abbey frowned. "No I might have to juggle the weyr patrol schedules a bit, but I think we'll fine."

Harry nodded, then he bid everyone a good night. He and May shared a tent to themselves next to the main administration tent and he desperately wanted a cool soak in the bath.

Five minutes later Harry sank into the cool water and sighed in relief. He didn't know it, but he had come dangerously close to heat stroke during today's patrol over the Red Sea.

"I hope we don't have to do this much longer Cheki," he said softly.

"_I hope so too Harry. The dragons don't mind the heat, but they are worried about the riders."_

"The dragons aren't the only one worried about the riders," said a voice.

Harry smiled and cracked open one eye. "More sunburns?" he asked May who stood in the door.

"No or no more than usual, but Lisa is worried, and so am I. If this goes on for another week, it will be my opinion as your Weyrhealer that we need to rotate each division through here for week long stints instead of expecting one division to stay here continuously. Both Lisa and I have noted an increase in irritability and general fatigue. This heat saps our energy, we're just not used to it."

As May spoke she unbuttoned the lightweight blouse and shrugged out of it. Harry opened both eyes to watch her. He had been with Hermione and May for years now and he was still captivated and aroused by their beauty.

She pushed down her shorts and stepped out of them, then she went to step into the tub. Suddenly she paused and turned to Harry. "Cool bath?"

He nodded and chuckled at her slight grimace. "It is 43.3 degrees out," he reminded her, "And I've been out with Cheki all day while your little infirmary has cooling charms built into it."

"You could use a cooling charm on yourself," she reminded him.

"I could," he agreed, "but what message would that send to the non-magical riders?"

"_We're supposed to set an example,"_ Chekiath added in a tone that make it obvious that he wasn't convinced.

"There's setting an example and then there's taking unnecessary risks love," she replied. "We've had one case of sun stroke and I'd rather not have to help Lisa treat another."

Harry shrugged a bit helplessly, they both knew this was an argument that neither she or Hermione could win. She was comforted by the fact that every morning she was able to get him to use a heavy sun block cream so his risk of sun burn was minimized at least.

She settled into the water next to him and reached for a washcloth and a bar of soap. While Harry might not use a lot of magic outside of their home, inside was a totally different story. Harry and Hermione both used magic to make their private lives easier. Hermione knew instinctively when May was approaching the most uncomfortable time of her period and cast the charm to reduce her cramps without even being asked.

And Harry had discovered a charm that allowed him to give them massages simultaneously. He could massage one girl and the sensations would be instantly repeated on the other.

May put down the bar of soap and approached Harry. "Sit up so I can get your back," she said. "I want to wash the sun block off you."

Harry leaned forward and groaned slightly as she started to clean and rub at his tense shoulder muscles. When he was good and soapy she pulled him back against her. Harry smiled deeply, he could feel her large breasts pressed up against his back, and he could feel her hand reaching for his growing arousal.

"Do we have time for this love? I mean isn't Hermione due to arrive soon? You said she had some news?"

May hugged him a bit tighter. Their bedroom rules had relaxed considerably over the years to include quite a few things, but both girls were interested in Harry, and having sex with Harry, not with each other. It had led to some interesting times where the girls worked together but everyone was aware of the limits they wouldn't cross. "She'll understand, or she'll strip down and join us in the tub and wait for her turn," May said against his ear. Her breath sent delightful shivers down his back.

Nearly two hours later Harry worked tiredly at the same desk Dobby stole from Snape shortly after he had impressed Cheki. He was personally glad that Dobby's hobby of larceny/midnight purchasing came to an end when Dobby had a child with Tisky, the head cook for the Weyr.

The mystery of young elves was solved when Harry finally got around to questioning Dobby. It turned out that the European house elves were having their children in the Americas as a way of saving them. Prior to having them in America the babies ran the risk of death from a British Wizard that didn't want to house and feed an elf baby. The female house elves were adept at hiding their pregnancies from humans, this allowed them to have their babies elsewhere and return with their masters never knowing they had been pregnant.

Harry, May and Hermione were appalled at the tale and spent a number of days reassuring Dobby that it would be safe for any elf to have a baby at the Weyr. Now two years on and the Weyr boasted a day care service that took care of the rider's babies and nearly twenty baby elves. Harry told the Elves that the Weyrs would shelter and protect any elves and their babies. When word of that spread, nearly every Weyr gained a small contingent of elves eager to help in exchange for a safe place to raise a family.

The dragons announced that the elves could not impress, but they could still form a very close tie to dragons that was as strong as the typical human/dragon friendship bond.

Harry shuffled the map around again and frowned at his notations. He was trying to tweak his plans and no matter how hard to he tried, he couldn't see any way of improving them.

A hand suddenly came into view and placed a small plastic bag down in front of him on the map.

"What?" he said with a blink, then he leaned a little closer and looked at the bag which contained several plastic sticks.

"Pregnant," he whispered, reading the display on the little LCD screen. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment and his brain refused to make the connection.

"Pregnant?" he said again, then he looked up. Hermione stood there looking at him anxiously. "Really?"

She nodded. May stood in the doorway watching them both. She had known that Hermione was concerned about Harry's reaction. She had gotten so busy working on those Fiat negotiations that she had forgotten to take her potion for a whole week. Once she realized that she had skipped and risked a pregnancy she was afraid of what Harry would say. She knew that privately it irked him that there were holes opening up in his wings as more girls became pregnant. He would never say it to any of the riders, but both May and Hermione knew it was causing problems.

Harry turned in his chair and he reached out with a trembling hand to touch Hermione's stomach.

"Harry, say something," Hermione whispered.

He caressed her belly gently. "We're having a baby. He's in there right now. Our baby," he replied with a touch of awe, then he sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "Our baby," he repeated with a watery smile.

Hermione laughed nervously and he pulled her into an embrace with his head resting against her stomach. He waved to May to come closer and she reluctantly did. As soon as she was in reach he included her in the embrace.

Hermione choked back a sob and she leaned into Harry and May.

He said something unintelligible and May frowned. "Harry, we can't understand you when you're talking into Hermione's belly."

Harry looked up at the two of them, the joy was clearly visible in his expression. "Our baby," he repeated firmly. "Our children will have the two prettiest and best mothers in the Weyr."

May relaxed slightly and Harry looked at her curiously. Her face flushed and she looked away in shame at her thoughts.

"May, surely you aren't thinking that I would treat you any different now that Hermione is having our baby?" he asked.

"Our baby May," Hermione echoed with a bright smile. "Isn't it obvious to you? This isn't just Harry and me having this baby, it's all of us, all six of us. Listen to what Harry is telling you, this baby may come from my belly, but it belongs to all of us."

"He," Harry said firmly.

Hermione turned to look at Harry incredulously, "How can you be sure? Even Issac said we won't be able to tell for another month."

Harry shrugged and started unbuttoning Hermione's blouse from the bottom so he could plant a few kisses. "Call it a hunch, or call it magic, but something is telling me that you are having our son."

Hermione laughed as Harry tickled her lightly. He pulled away and looked away. "A baby, a real family," he said softly in awe.

"You're not mad Harry? I know you grumble every time one of us women have to be grounded," Hermione asked nervously. "Aren't you interested in how this happened?"

May laughed and gently poked Hermione in the shoulder. "I think he knows full well how it happened."

"It doesn't matter how it happened love, we're starting our family and that's all that matters," he said, then he turned to May and gave her a bit of a leer. "I think it would be nice to make sure our son has a sister to play with, don't you May?"

She laughed and pushed him away. "Tomorrow Harry, we'll work on that daughter tomorrow after I take the antidote. Right now I'm going to suggest you take Hermione to bed. I know she was very nervous about telling you, besides, we tried earlier in the evening. It's Hermione's turn."

May turned and left the small office. Harry stood and scooped up Hermione in a bridal carry. "You know something don't you? Why are you so certain I'm having a boy and May will have a girl?"

Harry leaned closer and kissed her gently for a moment. "I'm not sure, it just feels right. I don't know how or why but something tells me this is how our family will start. You'll have a boy and May will have a girl."

Hermione cuddled closer in his arms and smiled to herself. She had been afraid Harry would be angry with her for getting pregnant, "Are you really happy about this Harry?" she asked.

He pulled her a little closer again and kissed her on the nose. "You know that all my life I've wanted a family. I'm going to need your help learning to be a father, but tonight I intend to show you exactly how happy you've made me."

He carried her into the bedroom they shared and closed the door behind them. May knew she could have joined them, but instead she opted to sit in the living room and read one of her textbooks.

"_A __hatchling__ is a good thing,"_ Trath announced. _"You should have a couple with Harry too."_

Trath's comment caused May to chuckle, "Sweetie you know humans usually only have single births. Twins and the like don't run in my family. I'm afraid I'll have to do them one at a time."

"_Being a rider didn't run in your family either,"_ Chekiath observed, _"And now look at you, consort to __T__he Weyrleader and mother to his offspring. You could have two. It's a shame you can't do like dragons and control how many eggs you have. You could have ten and never have to worry about it again."_

May shuddered at the thought.

"_Ten? Why so few? I can lay nearly fifty eggs __if I want to__,"_ Trath interjected.

"All right you guys, I get the picture, not all of us have your advantages," May replied. "Now if you'll excuse me I want to finish this chapter."

"_Yes May,"_ replied Trath.

May turned back to her book, then she glanced towards the closed door where Harry and Hermione were. She had been worried that Harry might treat them differently once he knew Hermione was pregnant. Now her worry was replaced by a bit of shame for ever doubting her husband.

**Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, September 15th 2005...**

Major General Iskady Sukov sat quietly at his desk reading a report on the production of a new jet fighter, the SU-34. Originally intended to compete with the high performance aircraft from America and Europe, the designers had done everything they could to 'tweak' the design to go up against dragons. It was the very best of Russian engineering and Sukov was convinced it still wasn't good enough.

The prototypes were performing beyond all reasonable expectation and Iskady was quite proud of that fact, but nothing he or the designers could think up would help against a foe capable of teleportation.

The door opened and his aide entered carrying the morning dispatches. "Your morning mail General," Irina said softly.

He grunted sourly and motioned for her to leave the mail on the side table.

"Is everything all right Iskady?" Irina asked hesitantly. "You have been very quiet since you returned from that trip you took last week."

Sukov pulled his glasses off and wiped tiredly at his face. _It is time finally,_ he thought.

"Bellarina died last week," he said simply. His wife had been lingering for years. Her illness made it impossible for her to follow him from post to post so she had returned to her family home in Bellorussia. His wife's protracted illness had been the reason he had taken Irina as a mistress in the first place.

Sukov did love his wife, but the illness had killed her personality off long before it destroyed her body. And somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with his mistress.

Irina gasped and she sat on a chair. "I'm sorry Iskady," she said softly.

Sukov nodded and took a sip from his cup. "I'm not. Her last years were painful, this is a mercy, and yet it now leaves me with a dilemma."

"Dilemma?"

Sukov looked up at the woman who had been his aide and mistress for the last several years. "With Bella gone, I can finally take what we have to its logical conclusion," he said. "Irina Katarina Hannanov, would you consent to become my wife? I know I am much older than you, but my feelings for you are true."

Irina gasped and nodded tearfully.

"Excellent, let's have lunch to discuss what needs to be done. The quicker, the better. Things are coming to a head and I will not be surprised if we find ourselves in a conflict soon."

Irina stood and walked over to him and he looked up from his chair at her. She leaned down and kissed him long and passionately. "If times become difficult that I shall do my best to make sure your home is untroubled and a haven," she said.

He turned in his chair and pulled her into his lap. "Yes I know you will, and I believe I have enough authority at this point to prevent you from being reassigned. It might be best if you kept your name at least for official uses."

Irina looked at him in surprise, then she understood, married couples were rarely posted together. She clung to him a bit longer before sliding off his lap and standing. "I hadn't thought of that," she said. "I would like to continue serving as your aide Iskady."

"And so you shall," he replied, then he grinned. "But no more spying Irina. The only piece of dirt that FIS had on me was my relationship with you, and once we're married, even that will dirt will go away."

Irina gasped. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew. I knew as soon as you replaced Igor Bostinov as my aide. There had to be a reason for his replacement, he was removed from my office and no one I talked to seemed to be able to help me get him back. That spoke of involvement from an outside source that no one wanted to anger. Who else but FIS would do such a thing?"

"You know then I only told FIS that you were dedicated and loyal?"

Sukov chuckled, "Had you said otherwise, we would not be here and I would be in one of the Gulags than everyone claims don't exist anymore. Now you have duties to attend to, we will speak further at lunch."

Irina nodded and flashed him a quick smile, then she retreated from the room. A few minutes later she found herself sobbing in a bathroom stall. She knew exactly how lucky she had been, had he reported her for spying she would have been severely punished. Instead he loved her and wanted to marry her. FIS would frown on that, but they wouldn't be able to do much about it.

Back in Sukov's office he sipped his tea and chuckled to himself. _That went better than he had hoped it would,_ he thought. _Perhaps I am not too old to be a father, I would love to have a daughter like Irina._

Satisfied that things were turning around in his personal life, he turned his attention back to his paperwork. They were gearing up for a conflict and like most military men, it was not something he looked forward to.

**Off the coast of Sudan, October 10th 2005...**

Harry leaned against the bank and Chekiath dropped lower. This was their second time in the area. After consulting with both Isaac and May he decided to rotate the wings. Even with that measure, there had been several more cases of heat stroke and one dangerous insect sting that resulted in a rider being hospitalized in London for a week.

As promised, when Division two served its time in the area, Harry took a very hands off approach, allowing Ronan's second to run the division. During that time Lac Logipi continued to fish the waters off the coast of Sudan without any incident.

Now Division one was back at Lac Logipi and mentally better prepared for the conditions they would have to endure.

Harry glanced down at the small panel that was attached around Cheki's neck and secured to the riding harness. It was a prototype unit from Ronan's group that contained a built in GPS unit that gave location and altitude. It also contained the smallest computer they could find that would fit and a small radio that allowed the rider to converse on several standard marine and aviation channels.

Their current position put them out of range of any aircraft with infra-red seeking abilities. According to Skip Taylor and Ronan, most IR seekers had a limited range and Harry made sure they would stay close to the Sudanese coast and away from any aircraft.

A brief flash of light caught his eye and he fumbled at his belt for his pair of binoculars. _"There is a big ship in the channel,"_ Chekiath observed.

Harry swung his binoculars around and he quickly spotted the tanker slowly making it's way out of the sea and into the Indian ocean. "Another oil tanker, they aren't interested in us." he replied. He swept the ship with his binoculars and idly noted it flew a Panamanian flag. Since he started the Weyr patrolling these waters he had seen flags representing nearly every country.

"_There is another, smaller ship that is very close to that __big __tanker __boat__,"_ Sinnath announced.

Harry blinked in surprise. Draco and his wing were about ten miles further down the coast so his angle could give him a bit better view of the tanker. Harry and his wing were shadowing the Lac Logipi dragons who weren't even trying to mask their presence; while Draco and his wing were positioned closer to the center of the sea, right smack in the contested waters. Draco's wing was more exposed and using the dragon's abilities to remain largely invisible to everyone.

"_Wing one, maintain station, Cheki and I will be right back,"_ Harry sent to the dragons of his wing.

Bob Malwich acknowledged Harry's order. As Harry's second and wingman he tended to keep a close eye on Wing one for Harry. It allowed Harry to have a greater degree of movement than most Wing leaders enjoyed.

"Cheki, let's break formation and take us to a point about four hundred feet over the tanker, I want a closer look at that smaller ship," Harry said.

"_Alright Harry."_

Chekiath and Harry popped Between and appeared over the tanker. The large dragon was hiding his presence from sight, but that didn't stop Chekiath from being detected. An alarm began to ring from the smaller vessel and Harry had a quick look at a missile launcher on the smaller ship swiveling around crazily as if it couldn't quite get a target lock.

Harry grimaced, "That's a naval ship of some kind but not a gunboat," he muttered. "Let's get out of here."

From what they knew of the previous attacks, the Saudis had employed a small missile patrol boat that usually had a small crew of less than a dozen men. This time it seems the Saudis had changed their plans and the Weyrs were confronted with a much larger vessel and crew.

Chekiath popped Between and the missile launcher slowly returned to its center rest position. Another alarm rang on the military ship and the Badr class corvette went to full power and pulled away from the the shadow of the larger oil tanker.

Harry pulled out a small reference book and thumbed through the pages. He had already marked the appropriate sections. "That's a Badr class corvette," he said to himself. A quick check of the ship specifications confirmed it's anti-aircraft abilities.

"_We have four jets coming into the area from the north. There are two groups, one north of our position and another northeast. __We are pulling back to the coast__"_ Sinnath warned.

_This is different than the last time,_ Harry thought to himself. _Last time there was a smaller ship and fewer jets._

"_Harry, that little ship is moving away from the tanker,"_ Chekiath announced.

"_All wings, listen up,"_ Harry sent. _"It looks like they have changed their attack plan. We have more planes and a much larger naval vessel to deal with. We discussed this possibility. You know what has to be done."_

He closed the book and stuffed it back into his pocket, then he looked down at the new command panel that Ronan's people had built and wondered if the metal had been enough to pick up on the radar from the warship. If was the only significant piece of metal they carried, everything else was far too small; with the warship was less than a quarter mile from the tanker, perhaps even the small metal panel had been big enough to be picked up at that range.

Harry pulled his binoculars and watched the corvette turn abruptly towards the Sudan coast. The forward missile launcher swiveled from its rest position but it didn't fire.

"_The British are still here also Harry,"_ Lee's dragon Soranth added. Lee had his wing wired for video and scattered up and down the coast line. Harry wanted there to be no mistake as to who did what to whom and when. Fifteen video cameras recorded everything.

"_Things are getting interesting,"_ Chekiath commented. _"__Should we move the British ship closer so they can see everything?"_

Harry grinned, then discarded the idea. He didn't want to scare the crew of the London, or have them start shooting. "No, they can see plenty well enough where they are. And interesting? You've been hanging around with Hermione too much," Harry replied finally. He dearly loved his wife, but she did have a tendency to understate things at times. "Alert the Weyr Cheki, have them stand to and make ready to initiate the plan."

At Lac Logipi, Abbey Rhodes ordered her wing to land and the riders scrambled to equip themselves with extra equipment. In less than two minutes later they were airborne and another two wings of Campbeltown non-bonded dragons took their place as overhead security for the Weyr.

Harry pulled his binoculars out of their case again and looked in the direction of the British. Soranth was reporting on a small British naval force that had been steaming back and forth in the Red Sea for the past month, ostensibly they were performing a right of passage exercise as well as running anti-piracy drills. Unfortunately, the British naval vessel was below the horizon even at Harry's altitude that meant they would only see what their radars could report.

"_Everyone reports being ready Harry,"_ Chekiath said after a few minutes of straight flying.

"Let's get the wing into position then," Harry said tensely. His original plan had changed after the first week of patrolling in the region. Harry didn't want to deal with this problem only to have it crop up somewhere else in the world. The Weyr was looking to make a statement that everyone could understand.

"_Wing one, follow me to shadow the north eastern jets, Wing __three shadow __that ship and make sure your cameras are running__. Wing four adjust to follow __the northern pair of jets__,"_ Chekiath called, then he went Between. As dragons repositioned themselves in the skies overhead, the Badr continued on towards the Sudan coast line, blissfully unaware of the dragons.

As the dragons moved around the Red Sea they maintained positions behind the various aircraft. They knew most aircraft tended to have forward looking IR sensors. By remaining behind them they reduced the chance of being discovered.

Two dragons from Lac Logipi, Skinth and Mosanth continued flying a circular pattern nervously pretending to be looking for a dolphin pod. They had faith in The Weyrleader, but both dragons wished they could help more to protect their weyr.

The corvette suddenly accelerated to full power heading directly to the Sudanese coast and the orbiting dragons. _"__Div two, Wings one and two, I need you near that ship __to back up Wing three__,"_ Harry sent suddenly. In his mind he was reviewing his forces and where they were supposed to go.

In Campbeltown Weyr forty dragons lifted off and vanished from sight. It was a fairly common occurrence and only the riders knew something unusual was in the works. Anyone watching in Scotland would have no clue that something was amiss.

"_Div 2 wings are on their way Harry,"_ Chekiath announced.

Harry grunted in acknowledgment, but didn't reply. Wing one and three were being hard pressed to maintain a close range on the much faster fighter jets. The Weyr had recognized early on that this would be a problem and their solution involved a series of jumps Between that would move the dragons closer to the jets. It wasn't an ideal solution because the dragons simply couldn't keep up with a jet going super-sonic unless they wanted to intercept the jet and kill it.

A dragon could jump right on top of a jet no matter what speed it was going, but that technique only worked if the dragon intended to destroy the jet. Shadowing a high speed aircraft was much more difficult as the jet went faster. The faster a jet went, the more jumps a dragon needed to do to maintain a close distance on the jet.

Harry glanced at his watch and noted he had ninety seconds before the next jump Between. He fumbled again with his binoculars and quickly scanned around. The corvette was now closing on the Sudanese coast at a high rate and the pair of jets that his wing was following seemed to be providing shadowing the ship.

"_Weyrleader, Draco says he thinks they are going to reverse the trap this time. He thinks the ship will fire the missiles,"_ Sinnath announced.

"_Yeah I'm starting to think that as well,"_ Harry replied. _"Lee, make sure you're covering that ship."_

"_Lee says he has five __camera equipped riders__ following the ship Weyrleader, __he has ten dragons backing them up with help from Division two.__ He's also covering the dragons that are fishing and the __jets__,"_ Soranth replied.

Harry nodded to himself, there were fifty dragons following the corvette, that was more than enough to sink her if necessary.

Minutes ticked by tensely while Harry and his group spent time hopping Between to keep pace with the pair of jets they were following. The corvette continued to close with Skinth and Mosanth. The Saudi corvette was now clearly violating Sudanese waters.

Suddenly both groups of fighters went to full throttle and rapidly opened the distance from the dragons.

"_Wing one__ hold back,"_ Harry called. The jets were going too fast for the Weyr to easily follow._ "Everyone track visually."_

Both wings slowed and stopped hopping Between, instead opting to rely on the dragon's superior eyesight to track the jets. Harry pulled his binoculars out and quickly scanned the sea for the corvette. The ship was turning tightly, coming to a course that ran parallel to the coast line. Suddenly her forward missile launcher swung off center and two streaks of smoke leapt from the corvette.

Harry could only assume the missiles were infra-red heat seekers by the way they were unerringly heading towards the two Kenyan dragons.

"_Harry!"_ exclaimed Cheki.

"Now Cheki!" Harry snapped.

"_Campbeltown g__o! __Wing one, take down those airplanes,__"_ Cheki sent, then he roared his defiance to the sky. A half second later Wing one vanished from sight. The Kenyan dragons also jumped Between, returning to the Weyr. In less than a second the missiles had no target to close with, their targets were now many hundreds of miles away, safe at home.

Back in Scotland four divisions of dragons and riders leapt into the sky and vanished. The departure of so many dragons finally alerted the British Army base next door that something was up, but no one had a clue as to what.

The Saudi pilot saw a sudden shadow appear overhead and suddenly nearly every alarm in his cockpit started screaming. The horntail had hit the aircraft with his spiked tail and nearly severed the tail assembly from the aircraft, then he gripped the wings tightly with his paws and pulled the wings out of shape.

The pilot screamed in fear and yanked hard on the lanyard that activated his ejection seat. The high tech was smart enough to know that firing the rockets when the canopy wasn't open was a bad idea, so the rockets never fired. The canopy was stuck in place thanks to the warping of the airframe by the dragon.

The Horntail released the jet and it began to it's long drop into the sea, trailing pieces of debris and one doomed pilot.

Harry watched dispassionately as his wing destroyed two world class fighter jets. He knew the pilots were already dead, or they soon would be. It wasn't something he was proud of, but it was necessary.

**Aboard the HMS London in the Red Sea...**

"Missile Alert! Tango One just fired two missiles sir!" The radar operator reported. The source of the missiles was over the horizon, but the missiles couldn't have come from anywhere else. The radar trace showed the missiles climbing in altitude.

"Action stations," replied Captain William Adams as a precaution. He wasn't exactly sure what action he could take, but at least now his ship would have her defenses at full readiness. His orders were to observe and report back to the Admiralty.

He leaned forward and watched a television monitor that was tracking one flight of Saudi Air Force jets. This was the closer of the two pairs of aircraft and at that it was barely in range of his infra-red cameras. The camera was slaved to his missile tracking radar so it smoothly kept pace with the high speed jets. The rear of the jets bloomed white with engine exhaust and Adams watch keenly for signs that the jets were going to fire their missiles.

The suddenly screen turned pitch black, which for an air combat situation didn't make any sense to him. It was a black and white display and black could only mean intense cold.

"Captain, radar reports the Saudi aircraft are breaking up," reported a deck officer.

"Both flights?" asked the Captain incredulously. He stared at the monitor, but the image was still unstable and showed over a hundred patches of intense black and smaller patches of falling white. Presumably debris from the aircrafts.

"Both sets of jets Yates?" repeated the officer into a handset, then he listened and nodded to the Captain. Four Saudi jets had just somehow been knocked out of the sky by the dragons.

"Ready the helo for search and rescue," Adams snapped.

Another officer echoed the command into a handset.

"Captain sonar reports tango one ceasing engine noises."

The captain frowned heavily, there were 75 men aboard that ship. The sonar had reported the range to the Saudi naval vessel to be over fifty thousand yards. At that distance it was over the horizon and the deck lookouts would not have a visual on the ship.

"Sonar, continue monitoring tango one," Adams ordered.

"Sonar aye."

Adams turned to examine his plot. He had orders to observe and not get involved. His executive officer came to stand next to him at the plot table. "Sir? Do you want to launch the helicopter?"

Adams grunted sourly and muttered. "You know our orders, if we stumble onto a fire fight what then? We don't have authorization to fight."

"Yes sir, but there may be people in the water," offered the executive officer.

Adams glanced up at a wall clock, it had been nearly five minutes since the first report of missiles being fired.

"Sonar, what do you have on tango one?" he asked.

"She's dead in the water sir, no engine noises and my fix is deteriorating rapidly. Shall I go active?"

Adams straightened and took a deep breath, what he was about to do could end his career.

"Launch the Puma, ahead full, set your course to 335 degrees. Lookouts are to watch for men in the water," he said. He glanced down at the plot table and noted they would be in position in less than thirty minutes. The helicopter would be there a lot quicker.

"Commander, you have the bridge, I'll be in the radio room," Adams said, he wanted to prepare a dispatch to the admiralty personally.

His second nodded and stepped over to just behind the helmsman. While the captain hurried below, he said, "Aye sir, I have the bridge."

**Lac Logipi, Kenya...**

Wing three appeared first over head. A second later the Weyr below erupted with bellowing dragons. Draco guided his wing down towards the special holding pens where they dropped their loads. The pens were little more than hastily erected hurricane fencing that Campbeltown installed a month ago for just this purpose.

Dazed, confused and more than a bit frightened the Saudi Arabian sailors and pilots huddled together in fear. A dozen large horntails faced the fenced in area. Each man inside the pen was certain one wrong movement would result in their deaths.

The holding pen was small and the men were getting rather crowded. Originally the plan had thought they would be dealing with small patrol boat with a crew of less than twenty. The pen had been set up with those numbers in mind, but now were seeing a much large group of prisoners. The crowding added to the discomfort and fear among the prisoners. The crowding would also force the Weyr to get rid of their prisoners sooner than anticipated.

Wing one appeared next, dropping another eighteen sailors. Overhead more wings appeared with dragons that were carrying a sailor that they had plucked from the sea.

Harry stood off to one side watching grimly. Unlike the others they hadn't plucked anyone from the water, or attacked one of the jet fighters.

Draco strode up to Harry with a wide grin on his face. "Seventy eight people Harry. According to Jane's the ship carried seventy five," Draco frowned and scratched at his head. "Not sure where the extras came from."

Neither mentioned the pilots of the aircraft. Harry had wanted to keep the deaths to a minimum, but he also had to send a hard message.

Harry nodded in satisfaction. The original plan as he explained to the British Prime Minister had undergone some changes. Harry had to work within the confines of diplomacy and the politics both here in the Middle East and back home. He hadn't informed the British of the change to his plans and he hoped they appreciated the extra work involved. He had left the British with the impression that the Weyr would not hold back when it fought the people killing the dragons. But Harry's plan was to keep the deaths to an absolute minimum in the initial attack.

The original trap that killed the three dragons was believed to involve just two jets and a small missile patrol boat. And that was exactly what they had planned on this time. No one thought that their warning via the British would result in a larger, more capable force.

He had originally intended to sink the Saudi ship and knock the jets out of the sky. Harry was certain that would embroil the Weyr in a shooting war that would put all the Weyrs into a difficult position. War may be inevitable, but no one would be able to say that the dragons started it. Capturing the sailors had always been part of the plan, even if they did expect a much smaller ship and crew. Given the size of the ship and the number of sailors he had opted not to sink the ship.

The loss of four aircraft and their pilots, coupled with the rest of the Weyr's actions would have to suffice.

As each dragon landed, an elf popped in and handed the rider bottle of cold water. Nearby a water tanker truck flown in by the Weyr provided water to any dragon that wanted a drink.

When the last prisoner had been dropped into the holding pen Harry turned to Chekiath. "The Lac Logipi dragons can watch our guests," Harry said, "Assemble the Wings Chekiath, its time to join the rest of Campbeltown."

Chekiath stomped heavily and bellowed a call that echoed across the Weyr. Over one hundred riders scrambled to mount their dragons again. When the riders were all in position Harry pumped his fist twice and they lifted off and vanished. Harry and his personal Wing along with a few others would accompany him on a special mission, the rest of the wings would join up with Campbeltown over Saudi Arabia.

The only wing not participating in the attack was already back in Campbeltown, copying the digital videos while Lee Jordan called the various news networks to let them know the Weyr would be holding a special press conference in an hour's time. He then offered dragon rides to any network that needed to get a reporter and camera crew to the Weyr.

Saudi Arabia was about to be taught a very expensive lesson.

May stood in front of the tent she and Lisa shared and worried at her lip. Normally she would have gone with the Weyr, but one of the Lac Logipi dragonlings had come down with a scale infection that she needed to keep an eye on. She had wanted to go along with her wing, but Harry had told her to remain behind manning the aide station. He was worried that they may still come under fire and he wanted her ready to deal with any injuries.

"_You are worried,"_ observed Sorth the senior dragon for the African Weyr.

May turned to look at Swedish short snout, "I suppose I am. I worry that dragons might be injured, and I worry about Harry."

Sorth sat down in front of May and huffed a little in the hot sun. _"I would worry about my mate. But your mate is The Weyrleader, he will come back. I do not think you need to worry about him."_

May smiled, "Perhaps, but it is human nature to worry about the ones we love. Especially when they are trying hard to avoid a fight. Harry could have ordered that ship destroyed and its crew. Now he has to try to convince a country to stop."

"_Yes, __but __what they did was wrong. The Weyrleader will fix it. He has been a great friend to Lac Logipi,"_ replied Sorth.

May nodded, she knew this was one difference between herself and Sorth. She had confidence in Harry, but she also knew that somethings weren't under his control. Sorth on the other hand felt Harry could do no wrong and would always prevail. It was something she had noted among all of the non-bonded dragons. They had absolute faith in Harry.

"I'm about to go check on Copath, would you like to come?" she asked.

Sorth looked at her with half lidded eyes that twirled with faint green streaks. _"I will watch our guests and make sure they behave themselves. I even promised the Weyrleader that we wouldn't eat any."_

May laughed and shook her head, then she picked up her kit and started the hot walk up to Copath's weyr.

**Aboard the HMS London in the Red Sea...**

Captain Adams looked at the Saudi Arabian corvette in his binoculars and scowled heavily. The ship was deserted and it appeared to be largely intact. The damage done to the ship had been carried out with precision. There were scorch marks on the hull and superstructure here and there, and someone had systematically destroyed the ship's ability to communicate or fight back against an aerial threat.

The ship's radar and radio masts were melted away.

The forward missile launcher was gone, or rather the spot where it once existed was now a cooling area of melted metals. The missile storage bay nearby that supplied the launcher was heavily damaged but the missiles stored within hadn't exploded in the intense heat. Both starboard and port close inboard weapon systems were gone, literally melted away and the surrounding metal plating was warped out of shape. Whatever attacked the corvette did so with a precision that the London couldn't replicate and it was a thought that sent a chill down Adams' spine

The ship also seemed to be down at the bow and listing slightly, probably due to peripheral damage from the attack that destroyed the forward missile launcher.

Adams sent a repair and salvage party aboard to assess the damage and they reported that she was leaking forward of the missile launcher. The damage wasn't that bad and the crew, had they stayed aboard could have easily fixed things. As it was the senior chief already had his people working on fixing the leak and getting some pumps running.

The ship was adrift and around it were a few, empty inflatable life rafts. More disturbingly there were no bodies in the water and no survivors.

"Captain, radio room, I'm picking up something on the maritime emergency band that you should hear," said a voice from a wall mounted speaker.

"Put it on the speaker," he said in an annoyed tone. He was trying to find the crew of a friendly naval vessel and didn't appreciate the interruption. His helicopter hadn't found any of the pilots either, which only added to his apprehension. The helicopter was some thirty miles away still searching for those missing pilots.

The overhead speaker crackled for a moment then it came to life. "Calling HMS London, this is Harry Potter. I would like to speak with your Captain, may I come aboard?"

Adams blinked and stared at the speaker. He couldn't fathom why The Weyrleader wanted to speak to him, but he had his orders. The Admiralty wanted to know as much as possible about what was going on.

"Sir, look outs report no ships visible except for the Saudi corvette," his executive officer offered quietly.

"Radar?"

"Besides tango one, we have multiple contacts, commercial shipping in the assigned lanes. Nothing nearby but we do have a spurious contact off the port beam. The return is too faint and indistinct to get more than a vague bearing. The computer unable to provide a range at all and has labeled the contact a spurious return."

Adams reached for a handset, "Patch me into the radio," he ordered, then he waited until his communications office signaled he was all set.

"Station calling HMS London, this is Captain Adams of the HMS London. Where are you?" he said into the handset.

There was a moment of silence and then the overhead speaker crackled again. "Hello Captain Adams, this is Harry Potter. I'm about two hundred yards off your left side, may I come aboard?"

Adams turned and glared at the deck officer who was in charge of the deck lookouts. He shrugged helplessly and pointed out the window. Adams turned and saw nothing but sea on the port quarter. "Radar?" he asked.

"Nothing sir, every so often I get something faint that comes and goes, but the signal is too weak and too faint to get a range and bearing. I've run system diagnostics twice now and the computer says the radar is fine, but the computer can't lock onto whatever it is. It could be a false return or something at extreme range sir."

"Hello Captain? Are you there?" Harry asked again.

Adams keyed the handset again, his gaze fixed on the window. "We don't see any boats off our port quarter," he replied in annoyance.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot about that, hang on a second," Harry replied.

Chekiath and four other dragons shimmered into view and the entire bridge crew sucked in a breath. These dragons could have been on them in a flash and they would have no warning of an attack until it happened. At the same time that they appeared, the rest of Wing one also appeared at a higher altitude.

Adams took a step backwards and he shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't help but recall a movie he and his teenage son had enjoyed where a Klingon Bird of Prey uncloaked near the Starship Enterprise. It frightened him to the core to know the dragons could do the same thing. That it happened without the cool movie sound effect was even more sinister. He glanced around his modern ship and wondered if all the fancy hardware had just been rendered obsolete.

Dragons could appear without warning, inside his close in anti-aircraft defensive envelope and no one would know about it until it was too late.

"Is that better? You should be able to see us now."

"Number two?" asked Adams. Privately Adams admitted to himself that he was out of his depth here and he was stalling. Barely two hundred yards from his ship were five very large dragons, dragons that were likely responsible for the deaths of nearly eighty Saudi sailors and pilots. Beyond them another fifteen dragons circled at a greater range.

"He is The Weyrleader sir, recognized as a head of state by our government. Besides, I'm not sure we could do anything about it if he landed anyway."

"Is the landing pad clear?"

"Yes Captain, the helicopter is still out looking for survivors."

Adams nodded and lifted the handset. "Mr. Potter you and your party are welcome to come aboard. Our helicopter landing pad is not being used at the moment."

He pulled the handset away from his head and turned to his executive officer. "Go meet him and bring him here."

"Thank you captain," blared the radio. "It will be only myself and one other."

Adams waited impatiently while watching two dragons lazily circling his ship. The door to the bridge opened up and his executive enter, followed by Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. He recognized Harry instantly from his many TV appearances, but the other rider was unknown to him. Both men wore military style flight suits and bandoleers of all things!

Harry and Draco had wisely left their crossbows in the holster attached to their riding harness.

Adams turned to the two young men. His first impression was not particularly favorable. Harry sported a heavy five o'clock shadow and both men looked pretty rumpled in their flight suits.

"Captain Adams? How do you do? I'm Harry Potter," Harry said holding out a hand.

Adams shook Harry's hand, he was rather confused and rather alarmed by this visit.

Harry smiled tightly at the man, he could understand his confusion. "This is Draco Malfoy, Wing leader for Wing three of Division one, Campbeltown. I realize that our visit today is a mystery to you, but we've been aware of your presence in the area for quite some time now. In fact I rather expected your PM to put a few ships in the region to keep an eye on things."

Harry shared a grin with Draco then he turned back to Adams. "And right now I expect you're rather concerned about what we did to those fighter jets and the corvette?"

"Weyrleader, you killed nearly eighty men," Adams said intently.

"_The Weyr __did not kill them all__!"_ Chekiath exclaimed. The huge dragon bellowed angrily and it was clearly heard in the sealed CIC._"We wanted to but Harry wouldn't let us."_

Adam's eyes bulged in his head and he shook his head in surprise. "Wait! What? Who?"

A number of the crew looked alarmed by the sudden bout of telepathy and it was impossible to miss the sound of Chekiath and Sinnath bellowing from the flight deck.

"That would be my dragon," Harry replied mildly. "The big lug said he was only going to listen in on our conversation."

"_I'm sorry Harry,"_ Cheki said contritely, _"but he thinks we killed __all those people__."_

"I know Cheki, and I will explain the situation to the good captain if you'll let me," Harry replied mildly.

"_Alright Harry."_

Chekiath fell silent and Harry turned his attention back to the Captain. "Sir, first off the crew of the corvette are alive, if a bit terrified. I'm afraid the pilots of the aircraft didn't survive, but they were in our way and had already killed three dragons. I was not about to allow them to kill anymore.

"As for the ship, we knocked down their radio mast and slagged their missile launcher and anti-air weapons, then they were told them they had two minutes to abandon ship. I'm afraid we did a little too much damage to the ship, but once people started going over the side, we picked them up and took them to a Weyr in a nearby country. Right now they are under dragon guard and as long as they behave themselves, they will remain safe and sound."

"Of course if they don't behave the dragons might eat a few," muttered Draco. Harry shot him a tight smile and sent a message Draco via Chekiath to keep all comments like that to himself. This was too important to screw up.

"You told them to abandon ship? How come we didn't hear it?" exclaimed Adams.

Harry shook his head. "Captain, I don't claim to be an expert, but the rider issuing those instructions was barely twenty feet above that ship. Even I know those kind of radios are line of sight. I'll be the first to admit that several dragons repeated the message telepathically since we sort of melted their antenna. So honestly I don't know if they even heard the radio message."

"They certainly heard the dragons," Draco muttered.

Harry chuckled, "That they did. We were surprised by the utter panic the crew showed. Once their captain realized he couldn't fight back he jumped into the water before his crew and the rest followed in only a few minutes. He was the first man we picked up."

Adams blinked and realized that Harry was right. They wouldn't have heard the radio conversation because the Badr was below their horizon at the time. He took a deep breath and concentrated on what the Weyrleader was telling him.

Harry took a deep breath and stood a little taller. "Sir, the Saudis have committed an act of war against the Weyrs. The Sudanese government gave us permission to fish in these waters and it was the Saudis that crossed over the line to enter the Sudanese waters and fire on my dragons. I think we showed considerable restraint."

Adams thought about that and slowly nodded. He would have been hard pressed to refrain from attacking if he came upon a ship shooting at another British vessel. "So you just dropped in to explain that you captured the crew of the Badr?" he asked

"Well I thought it would be nice to let you know what was happening since you were in the area Captain. Our prisoners will be turned over to Sudan shortly and if we have assurances from the Saudi government that there will be no more attacks on my dragons I'm sure their people will be returned unharmed," Harry replied.

"You really think they will back off because you took some prisoners?" exclaimed Adams in surprise.

Harry smiled tightly and looked at the clock on the wall. "Hardly Captain. Right now the Weyr public affairs office is holding a press conference where he is handing out unedited video of their attack taken from multiple viewpoints. And the Campbeltown Wings are sending an unequivocal message to the Saudis. They are turning the primary runway at King Faisal Naval Air base into a melted unusable mess. In addition to that, the skies of Saudi Arabia are now filled with dragons who are mostly having fun by scaring people and flaming at nothing."

"Within an hour the world will know the Saudis not only attacked two unmanned dragons who were fishing in the territorial waters of Sudan with permission, and the Weyr will have laid the blame on Saudi Arabia for the deaths of three dragons prior to today," Draco added.

Harry nodded. "At the same time the leaders of every manned Weyr will be delivering a message to the leader of their host country saying that we deeply regret being forced to take this action. The Weyrs will not start any conflict but we will not sit back and allow someone to kill our dragons either," Harry said, his tone turning harsh. "That is the message you can pass to your superiors. The Weyr defended itself today from an unprovoked attack. We did it at minimal cost and considerable risk to ourselves to keep the casualties low, but the next time it happens we will not be so restrained in our response."

Adams stared at Harry and swallowed nervously. His initial impression of Harry and Draco had just altered radically. Here was a leader of a dangerous force that had capabilities that he wasn't sure he could counter with his state of the art ship. It didn't help that Chekiath bellowed an order from the aft landing pad and suddenly five wings of non-bonded Campbeltown dragons appeared in the skies above the London. Over one hundred dragons now filled the skies above the London and everyone aboard knew who held the upper hand.

**King Faisal Naval Air station, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia...**

Norboth banked hard and Abbey grinned at the sight of so many men scattering in every direction. Harry given her strict orders to avoid killing anyone if possible, but he didn't say anything about scaring them witless and that was exactly what she intended to do.

Ten of her wing were slowly working their way up the single runway, turning a ten yard wide swath of asphalt and concrete into a muddy everglowing mess. Meanwhile Abbey and her remaining dragons buzzed the buildings and did their best to reduce the ability of the base to operate. Two of her riders were busy moving all the heavy trucks and other vehicles to the rooftops of the buildings just to be annoying. Several other dragons had set a long line of helicopters on fire.

"_There, theres a bunch of people with shiney shoulders running away. Marnith took the truck they were going to use,"_ Norboth announced. All of the dragons had been told to look for people wearing more ornate uniforms as they were likely officers that could have tried to organize a resistance to their assault.

Abbey saw a dragon trying to place a heavy truck on the roof of the control tower. It laid there for about three seconds after Marnith released it, then it fell through the roof into the control room. The tower wasn't designed for that kind of weight. One of the steel support beams buckled and it slowly started to twist while the remaining tower personnel scrambled down their stairway.

The people had just about cleared the tower when the truck crashed out one wall and plummeted to the ground. The tower collapsed on top of the truck a moment later.

Another dragon flew up and away from a hangar that he had just placed a fuel tanker truck. The truck crashed through the thin roof and exploded in a huge fireball taking the hangar with it.

Abbey shook her head in amazement and then turned back to the group of fleeing officers.

"Let's make them run faster sweetie," Abbey said with a laugh, then she leaned against the sharp bank while Norboth bore down on the officers that were running away.

Norboth roared and several of her wing followed her as she came in low enough to force all six of the men to fall face down in the hard packed dirt.

The sound of a machine gun firing caused Abbey to pull up sharply and look around. Another dragon had spotted the man with the automatic weapon and was already diving on him. The soldier screamed and dropped his weapon, then he turned and ran as fast as he could. The dragon bellowed and shot fire to one side, missing the soldier.

"_Look he pooped his pants!"_ Norboth called. For a brief moment Abbey could hear the mental laughter of every dragon in the wing.

Abbey groaned to herself, no matter how mature the dragons became, they never outgrew their fondness for potty humor and fart jokes. "Hush you. Wing five report in, is anyone injured?" Abbey said worriedly.

There was a moment of silence, then Norboth pulled up to a high altitude and looked at her rider. _"No one is injured."_

Abbey breathed a sigh of relief, she knew Harry would have her head. The man with the machine gun had given her a badly needed wake up call. "Alright, Wing five, form up on me, I think we've done enough damage for today."

Norboth climbed to nearly three thousand feet while Abbey and several others took photographs of their handiwork. The rest of the wing joined her in formation above the burning wreckage that had once been a military powerhouse for the Red Sea. Now it was smoking mess of twisted metal.

"Let's go home Norby, tell Harry to sound the recall," she said softly. They had achieved complete surprise and for nearly ten minutes they had flown unopposed over the air station before someone picked up a gun to shoot back. She was grateful that no one was injured, but she was also unhappy with herself, she had allowed Wing discipline to lapse and had put her wing at risk.

Abbey Rhodes had learned a valuable lesson, Division one, wing five Campbeltown had just experienced the sheer joy of letting the dragons indulge their abilities and it ended on a very sobering note for its Wing leader.

She signaled and the twenty dragons jumped Between. Three thousand feet below, King Faisal Naval air station was a wreck. Several helicopters were burning and the station's fire fighting trucks were currently sitting on top of the fire station, unable to move. Men ran from one place to another, unable to organize any sort of coherent effort to deal the fires and collapsed buildings. Most of the officers were still running away from the base and other than some senior non-commissioned officers, there was no one to issue any orders.

Three minutes after the Wing left, one of the helicopters that was on fire had a missile cook off and slam into a nearby munitions storage building. The explosion was seen and felt as far away as Jeddah.

**Campbeltown Weyr, October 11th 2005...**

Division one appeared in the early morning sky, they were the last of the manned groups to return home. Harry had sent the others home nearly eighteen hours earlier while he took his division back to Lac Logipi.

It was a crowded sky this morning. Two full wings of riders and another wing of unbonded dragons provided an overhead air patrol. Below a full division of dragons were on standby ready to respond to an attack no matter where it occurred. It was the same at every manned Weyr around the world and would remain that way until the issue with Saudi Arabia had been resolved.

If another attack came, Harry would attack Saudi Arabia with the full fury and might of the Weyrs; and this time there would be no holding back. He had already conferred with the other Weyrleaders and they all wanted to to help.

Harry had received a call from Lord Mills asking for him to return to the Weyr. Isolated in Lac Logipi with only a few satellite phones and a single satellite Internet link the riders had little idea of the firestorm the Weyr had ignited the previous day.

The Sudanese were holding the prisoners now. They wanted to have their own discussion with their powerful neighbors about the violations of their waters and airspace.

Harry was exhausted, he had spent the night talking with a Sudanese government official and conferencing with the other Weyrleaders to plan their next move via his Internet connection. He was just about to climb into bed when the call came from Lord Mills asking that he and his division to return to Campbeltown.

Lee Jordan had held an open press conference right about the time that Wing five was assaulting the naval air station. The weyr had provided multiple digital copies of unedited video showing the Saudi Navy shooting two missiles at a pair of dragons from Lac Logipi. The global positioning data from Lee's command console on his harness clearly showed the Saudis in waters illegally.

The gun camera footage was even more damming on the world stage.

Lee had stopped just shy of the Weyr declaring war on a sovereign nation but his message was crystal clear. The participating networks noted his omission and brought in numerous experts to explain that in their opinion the attacks would continue. Their position was strengthened when word came from Jeddah that the King Faisal Naval air station had been destroyed by a flight of dragons. Prior to that news, the world only knew that for a short time, the skies over Saudi Arabia had been filled with dragons and the population had been seriously shaken.

Word from the official Saudi government was slow in coming and initially it seemed like a real shooting war was about to start between the Weyr and the Saudis. Israel publicly expressed support for the Weyr and offered to allow dragon overflights over it's territory while several Arab nations offered support to Saudi Arabia.

By midnight London time the Saudis and the rest of the world had learned the true extent of the attack at King Faisal Naval air station and Sudan announced that they currently held the Saudi airmen and sailors under guard for violating their waters. They demanded an explanation from the Saudis and claimed they would hold their prisoners until they received a promise that Saudi Arabia would never violate their territory again.

The public evidence supplied by the Weyr, and the low casualty count caused many countries that had been stepping forward in support of the Saudis to back away. As the night progressed, Saudi Arabia realized they had very few supporters. It was very clear to everyone that the Saudis had started the conflict and the Weyr had responded.

Lord Mills stood wearily waiting for Harry to land. He was about as tired as the riders were. For James, it had been a tense night at number 10 as the various ministries reported in on the international scene. Around four in the morning the PM's office received an urgent message from the Saudi government via their ambassador which resulted in James asking Harry and the Weyr to return home from Africa.

The Weyr had spent a tense night waiting to see what the Saudi response would be. While Lac Logipi was still hidden, there were plenty of known, manned Weyrs that the Saudis or their allies could attack. Harry was gambling that the Saudis would not launch an attack on a manned Weyr since that risked involving the host country.

Finally when the division was down, Harry signaled to Cheki to land near where James stood waiting. James knew Harry would be the last to land. Despite Harry's upbringing his ability to lead always shone through in a myriad different ways, like waiting to be the last one down while he watched to see they all got down safely.

James shook his head, this wasn't something that anyone had taught Harry. He hadn't attended Sandhurst, or even spent time in university learning political science. The British government had arranged for special tutoring for him, but that fell very short of a real university education. To everyone's surprise, Harry took what he had and built from there.

_Maybe Remus was right,_ James mused with a grin. He recalled one cold winter night when Remus had stayed with James while his wife Mildred attended a conference in Boston.

"_Remus I don't understand what you mean by the bonding process," James said over his brandy snifter. _

_Remus leaned back in his chair. "You remember when we spoke to Draco and Michelle about their intent to perform the marriage bond?"_

"_Yes you said it would make for a stronger relationship," James replied._

"_The marriage bond makes for a near unbreakable relationship James. It alters the people invoking it. It make subtle changes so that the bond mates do not want to fight. They will still have arguments, but instead of resulting in fights and anger, they will talk things over once the initial outrage is burned out. The dragons and the riders have a similar bond."_

_James nodded and motioned for Remus to continue. _

"_Each rider and dragon pair are closely compatible or they wouldn't impress in the first place, but it's still not a perfect match. The bond subtly changes the rider and dragon bringing them closer together. Take Hermione for example. I knew her before she impressed and I never would have guessed she would ever relax as much as she has. Her life revolved around what few friends she had and her books. Comaloth has done much to bring her out of her shell and I think we both know that without Comaloth she would never have agreed to sharing Harry."_

"_And Harry?"_

_Remus sipped at the brandy and enjoyed the exquisite taste for a moment. "Harry is bonded to Chekiath and through Chekiath to all the dragons. That had to change him more deeply than any other rider in the Weyr. The dragons needed a strong human to help lead them so the bond gave them that. Harry always had the potential to lead but I doubt it would have ever expressed itself without some outside help. Harry's bond turned him into the leader we see today, and it's why we can see Harry one moment romping with one of the children and the next moment find him deadly serious. He really is two people, Harry and The Weyrleader."_

_James leaned back in his chair and watched the fire burn in the fireplace for a moment. "I guess then Hermione and May get to see the real Harry more than we do."_

"_I don't doubt it James, but I think you'll see it more often once he has his own children," Remus offered._

James stepped up to Chekiath and waited for Harry to dismount. Whatever prompted Harry to grow into The Weyrleader, James was glad he had.

Harry dropped lightly to the tarmac and turned to grin at James. "You look about as tired as the rest of us James."

James chuckled lightly. "It has been a long night and there have been some interesting developments that you needed to hear about. I was called down to number 10 soon after Lee gave his press conference yesterday afternoon and didn't come back until about an hour ago. The most important item you need to know is that at four in the morning London time the Saudi Ambassador asked the Prime Minister for assistance in brokering a cease fire between the Weyr and Saudi Arabia."

Harry blinked in shock and his hat dropped from his hand. "What?"

James grinned. "Harry you and your riders have seriously upset some apple carts. For one thing the Saudis are looking at over a billion dollars in damages to King Faisal air station. Apparently one of the helicopters that was destroyed was carrying some munitions that cooked off. One of the anti-ship missiles fired off and went straight into their munitions depot causing further damage.

"The hundred dragons over Riyadh, scared the general population, but the hundred over the oil refineries terrified the government. They realized that you could have ruined their economy in a matter of minutes, but didn't. The Saudis realized that their entire air defense network was pretty much useless against dragons."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, with the sole exception of one wing of dragons that attacked King Faisal air station all of the other dragons had been directed to act ferocious but were forbidden to cause any damage or hurt anyone.

"At sea things couldn't have gone more wrong for the Saudis. When Captain Adams aboard the London called for a salvage tug, an Egyptian one arrived first. It was returning from a towing job to Yemen and happened to be in the area. Adams couldn't exactly turn them down since they were the only salvage tug responding.

"As a result the Badr has been towed to an Egyptian military port. The Egyptians declared it as salvage which means the Saudis will have to pay up to sixty percent of it's value in order to get it released back into Saudi hands."

James paused and took a deep breath, "When you combine everything together, the Weyr has inadvertently shifted the balance of power in the Red Sea. The Saudis used to be the top dog in that region, now things have evened out and everyone is looking at what that means. Initially it appears as if Egypt is now the stronger presence in the Red Sea.

"The Americans aren't happy your actions, but they've learned the hard way that they can't be everywhere at once. And while they have a significant military presence in the Persian Gulf and Iraq, they lack the people and ships to cover both the gulf and the Red Sea. Of course the video released by the Weyr makes it hard for the Saudis to find much international support. Even the Americans are unhappy that they killed dragons.

"Tony thinks that the Americans don't want to tangle with the Weyrs after that one incident."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well... This went a lot better than I suspected it would. I never once imagined that the Saudis would sue for peace so soon."

He took a deep breath and looked intently at James. "I am willing to listen to their offer, but their problems are of their own making. The Weyr will not offer reparations of any kind, they were the ones who attacked us, not the other way around."

James nodded at this, he had told the Saudi Ambassador that he should expect this position from the Weyr. As far as the Weyr was concerned, the Saudis had declared war on dragon-kind with their first kill. Any expenses they incurred due to acts of war were their own problem.

James smiled tightly at Harry. "Yes I had anticipated that condition when I spoke with the Ambassador this morning. I also informed him that if pressed, the Weyrs could have destroyed every military and civilian airport in the country as well as the ports and refineries. They got off lucky that only one base had been hit. He wasn't happy to hear that, but he couldn't deny the possibility either."

"So we're good then James?" Harry asked.

James smiled. "Almost. The PM did ask me to thank you for your restrained response. The international scene is a bit confused at the moment. Many nations have opted to not express an opinion one way or another, and of course some have clearly picked a side. Canada for example has clearly stated that dragons will always be welcome on their soil and should the dragons need their help, they will do what they can.

"Officially word out of Washington DC was that the Yanks disapproved of the Weyr's action but recognized that the Weyrs were responding to an undeniable provocation. The American public however are very angry that Saudi Arabia killed three dragons, so the Yanks are having difficulty balancing policy and public opinion.

"Japan and China called for a cessation of fighting and offered to mediate a settlement and of course Russia had to add their opinion," James said with a smirk.

"Russia called you a flying bandit aggressor looking to dominate the world. They urged the Saudis to resist and offered to support them. The Saudis however couldn't accept that help without damaging their close relationship with the Yanks."

Harry resisted the urge to smile and thought that Lee would probably try to find a way to use the term 'flying bandits', perhaps in a t-shirt.

"The Yanks, like I mentioned are not happy, but the Saudis have been sharing some information and there are a number of generals and admirals around the world that are looking at you and your dragons with more than a bit of fear tonight. If there is a real downside to any of this, you probably have multiple military commanders around the world looking at dragons in a new and very wary light.

"I know for a fact that the First Sea Lord told the PM that he considered dragons allies and prayed that we'd never have to fight them. Apparently your surprise visit to the London seriously rattled the Captain and the Admiralty."

James paused and took a deep breath. "Having said all that I think things are settling down along the lines you thought they would. Some countries have come out to be very strong supporters of dragons and some have revealed they would like nothing more than getting into a fight with them," James concluded.

Harry nodded tiredly, what James had told him was pretty much what he expected. The world would settle down in camps of supporters, fence sitters and non-supporters. Nothing major had changed from what they had before. The Saudi capitulation was about the only real surprise, he had expected it to take a week and involve several more attacks before the conflict ended.

"Well in that case I reckon I'm going to turn in."

James clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You did a good thing Harry. You sent the world a message that it needed to learn. Dragons make great friends or formidable enemies. You never were going to convince the entire world, but I'm sure some of the nations that were sitting on the fence are really rethinking their position now. Now go get some sleep."

Harry nodded, then he started walking towards his house.

"_Harry?"_

"Eh? What's up mate?"

"_Norboth is asking if Abbey can speak to you in your office,"_ Cheki replied.

Harry glanced towards his house. Hermione was already at home and he knew May was probably there as well. He shook his head and glanced at Cheki. "Let Hermione and May know I'm going to be delayed, I'll be in my office for a while with Abbey."

Harry knew he could bespeak to either of the girl's dragons directly, but by asking Cheki to pass along the message he knew that Cheki's consorts would be relieved to hear from him. Trath had been with him at Lac Logipi, but Comaloth had stayed with Hermione in Campbeltown as she worked on finalizing several important contracts including that coveted Fiat contract.

Harry walked in silence for several minutes until he could tell that Cheki was done chatting with his consorts. "Cheki do you know what this is about?" he asked as they changed directions to go to the main administration building.

"_No I don't,"_ the dragon replied with a mental frown that even Harry could feel. _"Norboth is unhappy about something, but she isn't saying __why she's unhappy__."_

"Is Ronan in the Weyr?"

"_Yes he's awake and in his Weyr with Karen. They aren't due to go to the healers for another two hours."_

"If he feels up to it, please ask him to join us in my office," Harry said. "We'll wait until you and Ronan arrive."

Chekiath nodded at him, then split away towards the back of the building and his dragon door entrance. Harry climbed the steps and entered the building. He waved to the rider on duty at the main desk, a boy from Division five, then he turned and entered the corridor that held his office.

He stepped into his office to see Abbey Rhodes pacing in an uncharacteristic manner. She turned and opened her mouth to speak, but Harry waved her to silence. "Ronan will be here shortly Abbey. Let's wait for him. Dobby?"

Abbey flushed and looked down just as Dobby appeared in his office. "Dobby can we have some tea please?"

Dobby nodded and vanished, he appeared just a minute later with a tray. "Abbey," Harry said softly. "I know you're upset about something, but please take a deep breath and relax for a moment. Have a cup of tea, whatever the problem is, we'll solve it like we always do, together."

She nodded jerkily and sat on the edge of a chair. The door opened just as she leaned forward to pour herself a cup and she nearly dropped the pot. Harry took the pot from her hands and waved Ronan in, then he poured a cup for Abbey.

Ronan entered followed by a very pregnant Karen who shot Harry an apologetic look. He hadn't asked for her presence but she had been helping Ronan with his therapy and she insisted on coming along to make sure he didn't miss that.

Harry glanced at the heavy cast that covered Ronan's hand. His remaining two fingers and thumb were exposed but were in a light glove-like bandage. Ronan had spent two weeks in the hospital and now spent his nights at home and his days working some simple exercises to help his reattached fingers. The doctors were cautiously optimistic that he would see them function to a high degree again, but they still refused to say how much function he would have.

With Ronan grounded for the next few months, Harry had told him to spend more time working with the design group as well as reorganizing the Weyr manufacturing facility by hiring experienced hands from various rider families. Harry wanted experienced people in place to help reduce the risks of more accidents like Ronan's.

Karen was due very soon and there was a betting pool among the riders about the baby. Many seemed to think she'd go into labor while helping Ronan with his therapy at the Royal Infirmary.

Harry nodded to the pair and motioned for them to sit, then he turned back to Abbey.

"Abbey, I asked Ronan to drop in because he is my second in command, not because we're going to judge you or whatever you seem to think is wrong. I value his input and hope you do as well."

Abbey nodded a bit reluctantly, then she stood and paced for a moment before turning back to Harry. "Harry I'm not sure I can be a wing leader anymore. I think it would be best for the Weyr if I were reassigned," she said bluntly.

Harry's eyebrows rose on his forehead and Karen gasped in surprise. "Oh? Why is that?" Harry said slowly. He wanted to know what had happened to so shake Abbey. She had always been a very stable, responsible and reliable rider.

Abbey turned away from the window and looked intently at Harry. "Yesterday, when we were attacking the air base. I let my wing get out of control," she said in a rush. "I was so busy flaming trucks and scaring people and enjoying it! We'd probably still be at it, but one of soldiers managed to fire his machine gun and shock me out of my wits. One of my dragons could have been killed and I wasn't paying attention to what my dragons were doing!"

Abbey choked back a sob and wiped angrily at a tear. Karen moved towards Abbey, but Harry motioned for her to stay put.

"My wing was scattered all over the air field, I couldn't even see everyone. We were flaming the runway and setting fires. A pair of dragons were even picking up trucks and relocating them to the rooftops. And then one man got a hold of a gun and started shooting. I looked around and couldn't even see half my wing!"

Harry stood from his chair and walked over to her. He placed a hand on both of her shoulders. "Abbey, yesterday you experienced the full power and might of a wing of dragons. And when that soldier fired his gun you pulled back from the insanity and recovered control over yourself and your wing. You left with a full wing and returned with a full wing, not a single dragon or rider was injured."

"But that was just luck!" she protested loudly.

"It was," Harry agreed, "but it was also your training and your wing's training."

"When I destroyed those tanks in Kenya, I had a full Weyr at my command Abbey, five hundred dragons. I was tempted to find their base and burn it to the ground. I had just killed three tanks with nine normal men who most likely weren't in control of their actions and I ordered the execution eight wizards. I was angry enough to want to kill again," Harry said intently.

"The sound of an injured dragonling shook me from my anger. I had a responsibility to protect my dragons and I _did have_ injured dragons. You weren't there, you hadn't impressed yet, but one of the babies died despite our best efforts."

"It was terrible Abbey," Karen added in a whisper. "We had barely impressed ourselves when Harry returned to the Weyr with a bunch of baby dragons, including one that was fatally injured. We didn't understand until the wounded dragon jumped Between. Our dragons were already mourning before Harry returned, and we didn't really understand it. Then that baby jumped Between in front of two whole Weyrs. The loss, it was terrible. I had never felt anything like it before. Up until that minute when the baby jumped Between being a rider was an adventure.

"At that moment I realized that Harry was our leader and that being a rider meant much more than having a dragon to call my friend," Karen added, then she shivered in remembrance of that terrible day.

Ronan reached out with his good hand and took Karen's hand in his own, then he took up the account.

"We saw Harry come back from Lac Logipi and blame himself for killing those men. I couldn't understand him, he was our leader. Suddenly in my mind it was alright for Harry to kill to protect us and I didn't understand why he was upset about it," Ronan admitted.

Karen lifted her chin defiantly. "We are dragon riders. We are the partners to a race that has abilities that can help or harm. I don't feel like I've done much to help, controlling the finances like I do, but its our responsibility to protect our people, human and dragon."

Harry nodded to Karen then he turned back to Abbey. "Abbey, you and I have experienced what it's like to let the full fury of the dragons be unleashed. Its a powerful narcotic-like experience and the reason why I try very hard to not reach that point. We could have smashed Saudi Arabia into the stone ages and I admit I was tempted to do so, but we didn't. Just like you didn't kill anyone yesterday.

"Like you, I realized that things were getting out of control and I pulled back on the reins, allowing only your wing to attack instead of sending out ten wings, each to a different location. My real question to you is what did you learn from this?" Harry asked intently.

Abbey lifted her chin and looked Harry in the eye. "I will not let my emotions rule me or my dragon. I lost control and got involved when instead I should have been directing," she said defiantly. Her eyes widened, "That's why you and Cheki held back from the action yesterday! So you could command without losing your control. I wondered why Chekiath didn't attack either a plane or the ship."

Harry nodded. "That's right. I know it may surprise people but I really do have a short temper. A leader's job is to lead. Sometimes that means leading from the front and sometimes it means stepping back and letting your people do what they've been trained to do. Do you understand?" he asked gently.

Abbey sniffled and nodded. "Yes. I see it now."

Harry returned to his seat at his desk, "Good. I hereby reject your request for reassignment, you made a mistake and you learned an important lesson. However I think for the good of your Wing and your Weyr you will prepare a presentation for all of the Wing leaders so that they may learn from your experience. If the presentation goes well, you will be expected to present it to a general meeting of all Weyrleaders and wing leaders at the next impression."

Abbey blinked in surprise. "Really?" she said faintly.

Harry nodded. "Abbey a good leader has to be capable of recognizing their own mistakes and learn to correct them. Granted, asking to be reassigned might have been a bit melodramatic but you saw what you did wrong and what you should do to prevent a repeat of it ever happening again. That is the kind of leadership I want my wing leaders to have."

Chekiath crooned soothingly from his stall and Harry smiled at her. "That is the kind of leadership I need for my wings," he emphasized.

"_You are a fine rider Abbey and Norboth is a fine __friend__,"_ Chekiath added.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Harry nodded. "In the meantime, tell your second that I'm giving you a few days off. Why don't you head over to Joensuu for the weekend? I'm sure Ismo has a guest cottage you can use."

Harry tried to hide his smile while Karen openly grinned. Abbey hadn't made any significant attachments within Campbeltown, but it was well known she was very fond of a young man who was a Wing second at Joensuu weyr.

Abbey blushed and nodded, then she quickly made her exit.

Harry waited until she had left before letting out an explosive breath. "You know she's going to be ready for a division of her own one day," he said while looking at Ronan.

Ronan nodded in agreement, "She will. She's always impressed me with her ability to lead her wing."

Harry turned away from the door and looked at Ronan. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Ronan held up his arm. "It's not easy, but we're managing. I'm learning to do everything left handed."

Harry nodded. "I can understand that," he offered. "I've spoken with Issac concerning your recovery."

Ronan looked hopeful. "Oh?"

Harry sighed. "I'm sorry Ronan, but I'm not going to override him. If he says you have to prove you can mount and dismount your dragon without injuring your hand, I'm going to stand by his decision. I did press him over whether you could wear a glove or not. He hadn't considered that and is willing to allow for a protective glove. But even with a glove it's likely you won't be allowed to go Between on your dragon until the new year."

Karen smiled and looked relieved while Ronan's shoulder's slumped. "I suppose thats okay," he said softly.

"It's more than okay," Harry replied. "Issac would have kept you grounded until February had I not mentioned the idea of a glove to protect your hand."

Harry paused and took a deeper breath. "Look Ronan I know this is a blow to you, but I think we can turn this to our advantage."

Ronan looked at Harry in shock and Karen reached over to touch him. He glanced at her and she said, "Just listen to Harry Ro, he's always looked out for us."

Ronan nodded and turned back to Harry.

"I'm have been considering DSL and our ability to make the things we need," Harry said. "First off our building is getting cramped. I think it's time to build a place for all that machinery you've been buying. To that end I've asked Karen to look into purchasing a parcel of land just outside our northern border. Susan is looking at some proposals to erect a building designed from the ground up to be a factory for us.

"She is going to need your input Ronan. As good as Susan is, she's not an engineer and has little understanding of what a factory would need. I also want to pull Mildred Lupin in, at least in an advisory capacity to start."

Ronan leaned back on his seat and shook his head. "Harry, if I am putting this much effort into our design group I won't have time to handle Division two."

"Yes, that occurred to me. But at least for now I am unwilling to release you from that position. I understand its possible, but lets wait and see how things develop. Right now you still have months of healing ahead of you. I just want you to know, there is a very important task that you can do while you heal. I am convinced now more than ever that your job is going to be critical to the future of the Weyr."

"So you don't want me to give up my division?" Ronan asked hesitantly.

Harry shook his head. "No I don't. But I do want you to help Kelly fit into the slot. This way if Issac says you need more time, he can handle it. If he clears you for flight, you get your job back until you tell me you can't handle that and DSL Engineering. And in the meantime I get a division second who can take over a new division or take over for someone else."

Ronan nodded in relief and looked over to Karen who also seemed relieved.

Harry stood, "I know you guys are just starting your day, but I've been up all night. I'm going to head off for some sleep."

Chekiath hit the switch to open his door and Harry followed him out. Karen leveled herself up and held out a hand to Ronan. "Do you know what Harry has planned? I mean he wanted to bring Mildred in on your project."

Ronan shook his head. "If there is one thing I've learned about Harry, its that he has plans within plans. When he's ready he'll let us know."

"Hopefully it'll be after this baby is delivered and I can see my feet again," Karen grumbled.

* * *

**Author's notes and Mockeries:**

* To set the record straight about Ronan's accident. It was just an accident. The Engineering/Design group is mostly made up of college graduates with little or no practical experience. Ronan's accident is a result of that lack of experience and not due to any other reason. As you'll see in this chapter, steps are being taken to hire on more seasoned hands for some of the jobs.

* Fyreheart, we are not responsible for any damages that result from your snorting hot coffee or spewing some other liquid on your keyboard/computer/spouse. Read at your own risk.

* Ronan is not a wizard, so there is no chance of replacing his hand with a magical one. Besides, no one in this story knows that spell. Harry never went to the graveyard and never saw the spell performed.

* Rhett1980, even if he could somehow merge his magic and his dragons to create a shield, unless there was a way for every dragon rider to do the same, it would never happen. Harry is insistent on limiting his professional life to what his non-magical riders are capable of.

* Not too many replies this time since this chapter is larger than usual. So here I'll answer all the questions that everyone asked.

Maybe.


	13. Chapter 13

**Standard Disclaimer:**

Bob paced back and forth across the stage. It was time to publish again and he still didn't have a disclaimer written!

"Watcha doing?" asked Alyx.

Bob paused midstep and glared at her. "I'm trying to think of a clever way of telling people we don't own Harry Potter or the Dragon riders of Pern, but I'm totally stuck."

"Stuck?" echoed Alyx. "Like that time you accidentally picked up the tube of super glue instead of lube and we had to go to the emergency room? Now that would make an interesting bonding story for the kiddies."

Bob scowled at her. "That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been using the riding crop you know. It's hard to think straight when someone's yelling 'yeeeehaw' and smacking my butt."

Alyx giggled, "Good times though."

"Not for the emergency room people. I never saw people use bleach on their eyeballs before and I hope I never see it again," Bob muttered.

Alyx poked Bob in the chest, "So when are you going to finish the disclaimer? People want their chapter, just look at them," she said, then she pointed to the audience where people were actually drooling.

Bob glanced at the audience and stepped back. "Now I understand why people are bleaching their eyeballs. You know what? I give up, let them have a chapter without a disclaimer for once."

Alyx gasped and stared at Bob worriedly. "Won't that get us into trouble?"

Bob shrugged. "Nope, I'll just tell the disclaimer police that it was your turn to do it this week," he replied, then he walked off the stage whistling.

Alyx looked around warily. "Ummm right, so no disclaimer this time people. I'm afraid you'll have to live without it."

"Disclaimer Police! Open up!" shouted a voice.

"Beat the crap outa her," shouted another voice.

Alyx shrieked and dashed off the stage.

From his super secret control room, Bob started the chapter, then he turned back to more important matters. "I think I'll ask for Helga to deliver my donuts this time," he muttered. Picking which naked donut delivery girl to use was always such a chore!

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 13  
Actions and Reactions  
**

* * *

**Harry's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr (same day)...**

May softly shut the door behind her and smiled weakly at Hermione who sat at the kitchen table. "You didn't tell him?" she asked.

May had taken the antidote to the contraceptive potion the day after Hermione announced her pregnancy and to her surprise, had caught almost immediately. When she asked Isaac about it, he chuckled and told her that one of the lesser known facts about Mages is they tend to be rather virile and then he reminded her that with her magical marriage bond she should be able to have children safely into her sixties.

May shook her head. "I was going to, but it was obvious he was exhausted. He was up all night speaking with that guy from Sudan and the other Weyrleaders."

Hermione chuckled, "Just admit it, you are as insecure as I was. He's not going to yell at you you know."

May sat down heavily on a seat next to Hermione. "I know, I know. I expect he'll react much like he did with you."

Hermione poured May a cup of tea and smirked at her. "If he does, you'll have trouble moving the next day."

May blinked and leaned a little closer. "What do you mean?"

Hermione sipped at her tea for a moment in silence. "The night I told him I was pregnant we made love in a way we've never done before. Harry's used his magic to reach out to me. It was like our dragon bond, except that it was private, more intimate. I could still feel our bond, but this was something new, something different. He thinks that family is a precious gift and I suppose to an orphan it must seem that way, but with his magic I could feel his utter joy, his awe and his love."

Hermione paused and added a little more milk to her tea. "I don't even think he was doing it consciously, it just happened. He's always been the most giving lover, but that night was different. I really hope you get to experience that."

"_She will,"_ Trath offered suddenly.

May made a soft exclamation and turned towards her dragon. "Why do you say that?"

"_Because The Weyrleader isn't capable of treating you differently from Hermione. I suspect he already knows, but is only waiting for you to tell him."_

Hermione chuckled softly and gave May a look that clearly said "I told you so!".

"_Let him have a few hours sleep, then go to him,"_ Chekiath offered. _"In the meantime I'm going to take a nap myself."_

Comaloth lifted her head and looked at Chekiath. _"A nap? Really? Didn't you sleep enough last night?"_

Chekiath opened one green streaked eye and gazed back at Comaloth. _"I know what you want. Let me sleep for two hours and then we'll have a shagging flight."_

"_Me too?"_ asked Trath.

Chekiath rumbled contentedly and closed his eyes. _"Of course,"_ he replied softly. _"If my rider can handle two consorts, then I certainly can."_

All three dragons settled in for what looked like a brief nap. Hermione and May stared at them in amazement, the May turned to Hermione.

"So is Harry giving stamina to Chekiath or is Chekiath giving it to Harry?" she asked in amusement.

Hermione's brow furrowed. She didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to know. All she knew that was whenever she was in the mood, Harry was more than ready to oblige. "I don't know," she muttered.

The pair fell silent as they considered the implications.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, October 15th 2005...**

"They said what?" exclaimed the defense minister.

The Foreign Minister looked unhappy, then he reached for his glasses and picked up a piece of paper.

"According to the Saudi Foreign Minister he said, and I quote. The Saudi military forces took a larger than expected hit when the dragons counter attacked. King Faisal air station has been effectively destroyed. The loss of equipment and the use of the air strip has left the nation in a position where we are unable to continue any action against the dragons. Unquote."

He placed the paper down on the table and looked around. "Friends, the Saudis fought their short war on two fronts and lost on both. The loss of material is substantial, but more importantly to the Saudis, they lost in the eyes of the world.

"This Weyrleader of the British cunningly laid a trap in which he documented every action of the Saudis and then he played it for all the world to see. The implications for the Saudis are very bad. The American government has no great love for the dragons, but there is now a movement in their government to prevent the Saudis from buying replacement helicopters and jets."

The Finance minister leaned forward in his chair with a look of eagerness. "Can we sell them ours?"

Everyone turned to look at the Defense minister. "We can," he offered bluntly.

"Will they buy?" asked the Energy minister. "They have mostly American or European aircraft and no experience with our own."

"Probably," offered the Foreign minister. "But not right away. They need to rebuild a new airbase first."

"Rebuild? Why?" demanded the President.

The Foreign minister glanced over at Danakov.

Danakov nodded and picked up a piece of paper. "Our sources are reporting that the dragons turned a good deal of the runway into a permanent heat source, there is a white hot mass of glowing concrete running up the center of the runway. The one earth moving machine brought in to try to clear away the glowing concrete melted its blade. Temperatures are close to one thousand degrees Celsius. The Saudis are considering trying to cap the burning material, but it's clear that a new runway will have to be built. The one attempt to extinguish the glowing material resulted in the sand melting into a glass and then flowing away from the heat source."

The Defense minister scowled heavily.

"Something troubles you Josef?" asked the president.

The Defense minister looked up and nodded. "General Sukov tells me that they are working with an much improved IR seeker for our new missiles, but they have been unable to come up with any counter for the dragons ability to go Between. The new Mark 6 seeker looks very promising, but it is only one part of the problem.

"As much as I would like to find fault with that, General Sukov's results speak for themselves. He has worked diligently for Mother Russia. Even when his wife died last month he only took a day off to attend the funeral. He was one of the first to understand that the missiles were only part of the solution and has been working closely with our airplane designers to counteract what we know about the dragons."

He paused and took a breath before continuing. "To hear what these dragons did to an airbase is troubling my friends. We have the ability to kill these creatures if we catch them by surprise but an alert dragon is much harder to kill."

"What does this mean for our plans?" asked the Finance minister.

"We have a few options," the Defense minister admitted after getting a nod from the committee President. "General Sukov assures me that improvements are ongoing in the seeker head and we expect to deploy a number of new high performance SU-34 aircraft in the coming years. Now we hear what happened to the Saudis. I fear our only option will be to wait until we can hit them with overwhelming force. We won't be able to kill them all, but if we can kill enough, the rest will be too afraid to oppose us."

The Sukhoi 34 was a brand new plane that was expected to be reaching the air fleet in early 2006. It was a highly maneuverable aircraft that had been designed operate in the modern air battle arena. Now it appeared that it's first test would be against dragons instead of Americans or Europeans.

The president nodded and turned to Danakov, "And what of your efforts Mishka?"

Danakov leaned forward on his chair and flipped open a file. "Back when this initiative was first started we identified two distinct objectives. First was to slow the construction of the Dragon Power plants and the second was to find out as much as we could about the dragons in general.

"The Finnish Weyr proved to be an ideal place to obtain some critical information about the dragons which we passed to Josef's research department."

Everyone turned to look at the Defense minister who nodded. "Yes the information was invaluable in helping us design the new seeker heads." The Defense ministry didn't like having to acknowledge Danakov's help.

Danakov smiled tightly. "An attempt to assassinate a dragon rider to confirm that the dragon would suicide like the Weyr's claim was attempted, but the dragon response was quick and very lethal. The rider was severely injured, but did not die. It was decided not to repeat the attempt since we were risking exposure. Fortunately we learned from some accidental deaths that the dragon will suicide."

Danakov glanced slyly at the Defense minister. "General Sukov rejected a plan to try killing a rider at the Joensuu Weyr in Finland."

"And he was right to do so," snarled the Defense minister. "He told you that you were risking exposing our involvement and what happened? Your assassin was killed and the other man was captured. It was just luck that the Japanese couldn't prove his assertion that he was paid by a member of our Embassy in Tokyo."

"This fighting is pointless," the Foreign minister said softly. "So an operation failed. We have had many succeed and many fail in the past, we all know this. What of your attempts to slow construction?"

Danakov tore his gaze from the Defense minister and looked down at his file again. "On average we have added anywhere from three months to eighteen months to the construction time. The variance is mostly due to the nation involved and the labor laws of that nation. I believe that the western governments are aware of some of what we are doing and are taking steps to circumvent our efforts.

"We have had more success in delaying dragon related projects that are not connected the power plant construction. To that end we have put together a unit of operatives under a defector from the Spanish government. We even placed them in an old installation in the Ukraine that is listed as being owned by a Ukrainian national. As to the results, I think it best to ask Gennady that," Danakov said, then he sat back, clearly finished speaking.

All eyes turned to Gennady, the Finance minister who chuckled lightly. "With that opening I am glad to announce that we continue to sell our gas at good prices. The reduction in orders is lower than my analysts anticipated but they caution that the trend may not last. There is some growing unease over the exploitation of dragons in some western nations. Mishka's efforts are paying off elsewhere by portraying the dragons as being exploited. Some nations even are considering laws in an attempt to limit the exploitation of dragons by their riders, but so far no laws have been passed."

Danakov smiled tightly, his ministry was funding a number of fringe groups that were trying to portray the riders as exploiting the dragons. "A minor project, started on a lark that seems to be more fruitful than I anticipated Gennady," Danakov admitted. While the project was seeing some minor payoffs, Danakov wasn't about to admit that every time it came close to disrupting dragon operations, the Weyrs would step in and explain that the dragons weren't being exploited.

The Finance minister bowed slightly in his direction. "However you managed it Mishka, the slump in oil sales has slowed. I would urge you to keep it up."

"So where are we now?" the President pressed.

The Finance minister shrugged. "Currently we have experienced a total drop in sales of seven percent as compared to ten years ago when dragons weren't known to the world. Given a variance, five percent of that drop can be attributed to dragons, but my analysts suggest that we have entered a period of flat sales, where things will remain fairly static for a few more years.

"We can offset some our losses if the Saudis do want to buy some of our military hardware," Gennady offered.

"Yes, what can we do to bring the Saudis closer in line with us?" asked the Foreign minister.

"I suppose we can offer people to train them on the new hardware. And perhaps allow a small number of the new SU-34s to be sold to them, but I want to keep the bulk of the production for us. General Sukov wants to put together several wings of specially trained pilots using the new aircraft."

President Putin nodded sagely. "Excellent, but I think we need to make more exacting plans. Let us help our Saudi friends replace their losses and also sway them to our point of view. I think we are still several years away from a conflict with the dragons, but when it does happen, I want us to have allies all over the world. Russia will not stand alone, instead she shall lead the charge."

The men around the table nodded happily to him and Danakov suppressed a chuckle. He generally steered Putin in a particular direction and let him do most of the talking. Danakov was willing to admit Putin did have a certain flair and an ability to attract people to his cause.

The Foreign minister stood, "Well if you'll excuse me then, I need to speak with the Saudi ambassador and I have several other countries to speak to."

"Thank you all friends, we'll meet again at our regular time just after the new year," President Putin said, then he picked up his papers and put them in a leather case. It was a clear dismissal, but for once a meeting ended on a high note.

**ICW Hall of Deliberation, Paris, France, October 18th 2005...**

Joachim Stebbins surveyed the chamber and felt a little apprehensivr. Never had a Supreme Mugwump delivered such dire news and he wondered if the ICW would survive this crisis or would they go back to independent countries squabbling over every simple little thing.

He signaled to the hit wizard in his control booth overhead and the wizard activated the runes to flash the lights. The delegates hurried to their assigned boxes with worried expressions. The Mugwump had sent an urgent message yesterday urging every delegate to come to Paris with all haste for an emergency session of the ICW.

Of course not every delegate had shown up, but that was to be expected considering the news he bore.

As soon as the delegates were seated the doors were closed and sealed.

Stebbins stood from his position and cleared his throat while a number of delegates were surprised by Stebbins bypassing normal procedures.

"Delegates, earlier this week I received notice from five member nations informing me that they were withdrawing from the ICW citing irreconcilable differences as the primary reason for the move. Specifically each nation states they cannot and will not support approved plan to reveal the Wizarding world to the Muggle nations. They also categorically reject all of the substantial evidence in regard to the intelligence of dragons."

He paused and looked up at the shocked delegates. "The notices went on to say they had performed the requisite ritual releasing them from the treaty obligations."

A gasp rippled through the chamber. The ritual that would release any nation had been designed to include enough dark arts so as to make any nation think twice before performing it.

"Chief Mugwump!" shouted a voice.

Stebbins looked around and then zeroed in on the delegate from South Africa. "Delegate Maarsins?"

"I note there are a number of empty seats here today. Far more than the five you mentioned. Who among the missing was willing to slaughter a Unicorn knowing full well that such an act would condemn not only the wizard wielding the knife, but also his family? We have a right to know!"

Stebbins nodded, then he looked at the parchments he carried. He really didn't need to read the names, he had memorized them by heart, but the act of reading seemed to give him a sense of normalcy. "Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Paraguay and Cambodia. Delegates, there are missing member nations whom I have not heard from that may yet join with these others."

Delegate Maarsins sat down and looked around thoughtfully for nearly a full minute, then he stood again and signaled to the Mugwump that he wished to speak again.

"Delegate Maarsins, you have something to add?"

Maarsins nodded, "Supreme Mugwump, honored colleagues, South Africa wasn't convinced that the Dumbledore plan was the right way to go, but the esteemed delegate from Britain visited South Africa and laid out his reasons in clear and undeniable terms. Since then we have been in contact with our muggle counterparts and if anything Delegate Weasley understated his case, a trait for which the British colleagues are well known."

He smiled at Arthur Weasley to show he meant no malice, then he continued. "South Africa believes in the Dumbledore plan. The members who have left this august body are not only misguided, but are clearly not the type of people we want as part of our Confederation. Magic will judge those since they have removed themselves from our jurisdiction. Let them go! They chase a pipe dream of hiding while the rest of the world learns of the Wizarding world.

"We could fight them and try to bring them to heel, but I say, let them go. They cannot turn back the tide, and make no mistake. The Dumbledore plan is a tide, inexorable, implacable and undeniable. It will happen and I say we concentrate our resources on the plan rather than some misguided attempt to lure those nations back into the fold."

Maarsins sat down and folded his arms, looking around defiantly.

Arthur stood and Stebbins acknowledged his desire to speak. The Mugwump motioned to Arthur more out of shock than anything else. He had expected a totally different reaction than what was being expressed here.

"I believe it is safe to say that Her Majesty's government echoes the sentiments of my esteemed colleague from South Africa. When we proposed the Dumbledore plan we knew there would be resistance to the plan, but never did we imagine countries reneging on their treaty obligations.

"The Dumbledore plan is in my mind the safest option we have to our inevitable discovery. It is the best way to safeguard our future and our children's future."

Arthur leaned against the railing of the British booth and took in the chamber watching him intently. "I will echo South Africa, let them go. We have far too much to be concerned about without letting ourselves be drawn into a conflict. The one thing we must do, and we must do it together, is work to preserve our confederation."

The Japanese delegate stood as Arthur sat down.

"Delegate Masabe? Do you have a comment?" asked Stebbins.

The aged Mage nodded, then he also surveyed the assembled delegates. "Both Britain and South Africa have spoken wise words that I can hardly improve upon. If I might suggest that a warning be sent to the Weyrleader who has proven to be a firm ally of this body. He needs to be warned so he can alert the dragons."

Yoshi sat down and smiled to himself, a great many of the other delegates were nodding in the affirmative at his suggestion.

"Thank you delegate Masabi, I will draft a warning to the Weyrleader and ask our British colleague to deliver it for us," Stebbins said. Even though no vote was called for, nearly every box lit up with an affirmative vote.

Stebbins suppressed a desire to laugh hysterically, less than an hour ago he was convinced he was about to preside over the break up of the ICW, but to his surprise the members were rallying together. It was an action that Albus Dumbledore had been able to achieve several times in his tenure as Chief Mugwump and something Stebbins felt he'd never be able to replicate.

Stebbins returned to his seat. He was pleased with the results of the meeting which had far exceeded his expectations. "Delegates, I realize that no one is prepared at this moment, but perhaps we can turn our attention to ways to make our unity even stronger? We have had a body blow, but the response of our membership heartens me greatly. The member nations remain committed to the Dumbledore plan. What can we do to strengthen our unity?"

A light appeared and Stebbins looked at the Peruvian delegate. "Delegate Delgado?"

"Chief Mugwump, as you know we have been trying to find appropriate substitutes for dragon based potion ingredients. Thus far we have successfully found replacements for nearly forty percent of the ingredients, including those used in the critical cardiac repair potion. I have been reliably informed that we are close to a breakthrough that should bring us up to nearly seventy five percent replacements.

"Our potion masters are the best in the world and the member nations have been paying for their salaries. Unfortunately after they went through the more common possible potion ingredients there was little money left for the rarer ingredients.

"What we need are more samples to test with but some of our best potion masters lack the funding to purchase some of these rare creatures and plants. If each nation would donate a small amount, say five thousand galleons, there would be ample funds to help our potion masters continue their efforts. Therefore I propose a motion requesting a one time additional funding of five thousand galleons per member nation for the purposes of providing access to these rare ingredients."

Stebbins looked at Delgado in surprise, he hadn't realized how successful their efforts had been in finding replacement ingredients. The ICW had put together the funding for the effort which Delegate Delgado oversaw, but apparently they now needed more money.

"France seconds the motion and I will personally add two thousand galleons out of my own pocket to further help the effort," shouted the French delegate.

That opened a floodgate among the delegates as others offered additional funding and shouted their seconds. For a moment the chamber descended into pandemonium. The Hit Wizard up in the control booth looked pointedly at the Chief Mugwump, but the man was unwilling to shut down the delegates over something so important.

Delegate Delgado hurriedly wiped his face and tried to hide his tears. If the numbers were to be believed, he had managed to raise nearly half a million galleons for this special project.

Finally the chamber settled down and Stebbins looked around with a huge smile on his face. "Delegates, I daresay never has a motion received such overwhelming support without extensive debate. However to satisfy protocol can I have a vote on the motion, all delegates should signal their vote now."

One by one the delegate boxes lit up with yes votes. Of the present delegates not a one voted against the measure.

It would be a moment that Stebbins would treasure until his dying day.

**Bejing China, October 21st 2005...**

Harry spiraled in for a landing at Tienanmen square, behind him all of Wing four, plus Lobsang from Maziang Weyr followed. The square wasn't entirely empty, but the Chinese police had done an excellent job of clearing a large space for the dragons land in.

Dragons now tended to avoid using airports as points of entry after a few encounters with jet blasts. The hot, super speed winds created by modern jets didn't bother the dragons much, but the heat had injured several riders, causing Harry to forbid dragons using airports anymore. Many large airports had safe areas to park aircraft that the dragons could use, but until the local authorities gave permission to use those areas the dragons would find other places to land.

The dragons, in formation landed neatly in the exact spot set aside for them. Nearby a line of limousines and a bus waited. A dozen motorcycle police stood nearby to provide escort for the motorcade. Behind a police barricade stood a large number of local and international press who were covering Harry's state tour.

Harry slid down from Chekiath and winced painfully. He was beyond exhausted at this point and just the drop bothered him. Ever since the conflict with the Saudis he had been visiting with various national leaders personally reassuring them that the Weyr had no intentions of making a habit out of attacking nations. Twenty two nations in ten days, it was a grueling schedule made possible only because of the Dragon's ability to jump Between.

Each country required several hours of private discussion with a President or Prime Minister, plus a press conference usually followed by some kind of state luncheon or dinner. And each night he'd climb into a bed at some hotel and fall asleep instantly.

When word of his world tour leaked out, he received a message from the Chinese via the British asking if he could drop in for some talks with Wen Jiabao the Chinese Premier. China had been pretty quiet since the formation of the Weyr and Harry figured they didn't want to rock the boat as far as access to Dragon products were concerned.

China had significant investment in the idea of dragon power and in doing so, reduced their consumption of fuel oil by nearly thirty percent. But dragon powered power stations were the only thing Maziang was doing for China.

The request to meet precipitated several long meetings between Harry and Lobsang which only added to the stress and tension of the last week. Harry had worked out several possible positions based on what the Chinese could have wanted and he could only pray he had covered all the possible contingencies.

Some of the positions would force Maziang to work more closely with the People's Republic of China despite Lobsang's reluctance. However Lobsang was a realist and he knew they couldn't hide away forever. He did get a promise from Harry that if necessary, Maziang and all of the villagers would be evacuated to a new Weyr should something go wrong. Lobsang was satisfied with Harry's promise, he had been worried that the villagers would be left behind; but Harry assured them that Maziang's non-rider population were a part of that Weyr and always would be.

Maziang had reported sporadic contacts with the PLA over the years, but no one was sure if the People's Liberation Army was looking for the Weyr or just doing field exercises. The Chinese had not found the plateau where Maziang lay thanks to the heavy anti-muggle warding.

Maziang was unique in another way, it was the only manned Weyr where wizards outnumbered muggles.

Maziang recruited potential riders from the local wizards, or from other countries, but they never searched China for candidates.

Harry had asked Lobsang to attend this meeting and he had reluctantly agreed. Before impressing Lobsang considered the Chinese to be invaders, but after his impression he had adopted Harry's view of thinking that he was a dragon rider and not a citizen of Tibet. He hadn't completely rid himself of his dislike for the Chinese, but he was working on it.

Harry waited until Lobsang joined him. Like Harry, he wore the white beret of leadership and sported colors which no known Weyr used. He had been spotted at several Weyr events and had been the source of much speculation in the press because no one had identified the mysterious unnamed Weyrleader. Maziang thought the whole thing was funny and caused much laughter when they read some of the rumors about their Weyrleader.

"You look much tired my friend," Lobsang said while they waited for everyone else to assemble.

"_He is __tired__,"_ Chekiath added sounding tired himself.

Harry sighed and nodded, "The schedule has been taxing and this unscheduled visit isn't helping."

"Perhaps then a rest after this visit no? You and your wives can go to Joensuu or perhaps Sakushima." Lobsang offered.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, he had discovered only two years earlier that every Weyr had set aside quarters for him and his family. It had surprised and humbled him to know that every Weyrleader had done that.

Lobsang turned to Chekiath and eyed him with a knowing eye. The large dragon was also showing some signs of fatigue, but clearly wasn't as tired as Harry was. He turned back to Harry. "I think I must insist that you let me ferry you home tonight my friend. Chekiath can follow using my imagery. You need a rest my friend."

The message was clear, Lobsang thought Harry might be approaching the point where it was dangerous to give jump imagery to a dragon. It was a lesson pounded home in Weyrling training and Lobsang wasn't going to let Harry risk Between. A quick glance at the Wing four showed they were fresh and alert. Lobsang realized that Harry had been rotating Wings for this trip, the wing was fresh, but their leader was clearly not.

"I'm not going to argue with you over it, but first let's get this meeting over with," Harry said slowly, then he gestured towards a small cluster of people standing in front of one of the limousines. He paused for a moment and drew deeply on his magic, flushing away any fatigue that might impair his ability to deal with the Chinese. It wasn't something he did often, but on this trip he had used it frequently. Sooner or later it would catch up with him and he'd regret it. For now it would help with this meeting and that's all that mattered.

Harry and Lobsang approached the limousine and one of the men bowed deeply. "Weyrleader, I am to escort you and your companion to the Premier at his private residence. For your other riders, we have arranged an opportunity for them to partake of our city and sample some of our culture. If you would have them board the bus they will be taken to a nearby restaurant and theater."

Harry nodded and sent a mental command to Chekiath to inform the others. "My riders would be delighted to enjoy a good meal, thank you."

The man ushered Harry and Lobsang into the car and they sped away with their police escort.

Harry glanced out the window and noted that parts of the city appeared to be very old and other parts built in modern steel and glass. A gray haze hung over the city that had been most uncomfortable to breath when the riders came out of Between. It made the city look dirty and unappealing.

"The Premier is most anxious to meet with you," said their guide.

Harry smiled and replied, "I suppose it is long overdue to be honest. I tried several times to arrange enough free time to visit your country, but I'm afraid something always came up to interfere with that. When the request for a meeting came through our British friends I jumped at the chance."

"For the purposes of introductions might I know the name of your companion? He has appeared several times in the western media, but no one has identified him as yet," asked the guide.

Harry realized the man was probably more than just a mere translator/guide. "Weyrleader Lobsang is in charge of the Weyr that exists within your borders. His Weyr is smaller than most with only three hundred bonded dragons. The total population of that Weyr is less than two thousand people and dragons."

"Ah," the man replied. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to write that information down. "It is a big responsibility for one so young."

Harry smiled thinly, "Actually Lobsang is a few months older than I am."

The guide flushed slightly, "I meant no disrespect Weyrleader."

Lobsang grinned at Harry and Harry nodded to him. "There was no insult," Lobsang said, "You could not have known. Besides, youth and inexperience are two different things for riders. We are coupled with a mind who has memories spanning back eons. If nothing else it tends to make one grow up faster."

The guide glanced to Harry who nodded in agreement. The trip continued on in silence for another twenty minutes before they pulled up to a large gated residence with heavy security. Harry would have been worried, but he knew he wasn't alone. Two wings of non-bonded dragons had been carefully following them since the square and both Chekiath and Jekrith were listening closely. Harry didn't expect any real trouble, but Sirius had insisted on having a dragon guard even if they were invisible to the Chinese.

Harry didn't like it, but the recent events had proven that it was better to take precautions than to be caught with one's pants down. If anything went wrong forty dragons would instantly be there, tearing the place apart and thousands of dragons would be only a minute behind them.

Their guide led them inside the building and stopped in front of a glass door that lead deeper into the building. "Premier Jiabao often enjoys the peace and quiet that he can find from a garden. Unfortunately such a thing isn't always possible, so he had an interior garden built into the center of the residence. Please enter and follow the stone path until you come to a small pond surrounded by chairs. He will join you there."

Harry nodded and thanked the guide, then he pulled the door open allowing both of them to enter.

"Such opulence," Lobsang murmured after a moment.

"It seems that way, but it really isn't," Harry said with a half hearted shrug. "If the Premier's job is anything like ours then he needs a place to go that is quiet. It's a place where stress can bleed off and for a short while he can forget about the pressures of state."

Lobsang looked at Harry shrewdly, his Weyr had far fewer problems than any other Weyr, but it interacted with the world far less than any other Weyr. He had heard about 'Harry's perch', a rock ledge at Disko Island that was situated in such a way to block the wind and still receive a good amount of sunshine. Harry was known for going there and spending hours curled up with his dragon. Lobsang had never considered how stressful being The Weyrleader could be.

"You are most perceptive Weyrleader, affairs of state sometimes weigh quite heavily on one's shoulders," said a voice. "Please do sit down and let us talk of things."

"Premier Jiabao, I am pleased to finally meet with you," Harry said. "May I introduce Weyrleader Lobsang, of the Weyr that resides within your national territory."

He avoided naming the Weyr, just to be safe. Maziang had been a wizarding community, but there was always a remote chance that some old document somewhere might reference it and it's location.

Jiabao smiled thinly and gestured again for them to sit. As soon as they had taken their seats several servants appeared and scurried about setting up a small table with drinks and refreshments. "Do try the tea Weyrleader, I'm certain you will find it quite different from what you are used to," offered Jiabao.

A servant immediately placed a small table between Harry and Lobsang. Another servant placed several cups and a small pot on the table, then as if by magic all the servants fled the area, vanishing from sight.

Harry poured a cup and raised it in salute to the Premier. "To your health sir."

Jiabao smiled again and Harry noted it was the first true emotion he had allowed to show through his mask.

"Mister Premier, before we begin I would like to tell you what I have told the British Prime Minister, the American President, the Emperor of Japan and his Prime Minister, and all of the other national leaders I have been visiting for the last ten days," Harry said.

Jiabao raised an eyebrow and then gestured to proceed. Harry sipped his cup and then glanced at in pleasure, it was better than what he was used to. He placed the cup down on the table and turned to face the Chinese Premier. "The recent action taken by the Weyr against Saudi Arabia was a direct result of actions initiated by the Saudis. We have no wish to fight anyone, but we will defend ourselves.

"The Weyrs can be a great many things, we can be powerful friends, helping to solve the problems that face humanity, and I'm sad to say we can be powerful enemies to those that wish us harm."

Harry paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "The Weyrs believe that your great nation is a friend to the Weyrs. We understand your energy needs were troublesome before we came along and we hope we've helped ease that problem.

"The Weyrs would like to help in other ways, but we are cautious. I mean no disrespect when I say that your country does not look favorably on the issue of autonomy."

Everyone knew Harry was referring to Hong Kong which had been absorbed back into the country only a few years ago. The Chinese had allowed a greater degree of freedom in the small island city than the rest of the country, but the whole world knew there was an army nearby ready to put down any dissension.

Jiabao frowned for a moment. "Autonomy is a difficult subject Weyrleader," he replied finally, "I am pleased to note your position on the recent actions in the Middle East. It was not my intention to bring that subject up, but every nation understands the concept of self defense."

He turned his gaze on Lobsang who resisted the urge to squirm in his seat. "Lobsang is a Tibetan name is it not?"

"My parents were Tibetan," Lobsang admitted.

Jiabao smiled, he picked up on the fact that Lobsang's answer was just vague enough to be unhelpful. Jiabao turned back to Harry. "There are some in my government that say we should find the Weyr and bring it into the fold. The Weyr has no commissar, no party members. That degree of freedom upsets some of our more conservative officials."

"And yet, I have no doubt that before we found your location you would have been long gone," Jiabao said. He paused and watched Harry for a reaction.

Harry smiled thinly and said nothing in reply.

Jiabao was impressed by Harry's stoic posture, but he pressed on anyway. "I am reminded of a tale, a child's story from Europe about a bird that laid a golden egg. We have a similar tale in our own mythology, only this time it was golden feathers. Both stories have the same lesson to teach. Over exploitation of a resource can lead to the loss of that resource."

Jiabao paused to sip from his cup, then he looked at Harry. "Other countries enjoy many benefits from having a Weyr within their lands. China would like to enjoy similar benefits. Such benefits might appease some of the more conservative members of the politburo that wish to find and seize the Weyr. For myself I have no wish to pluck all of the feathers only to discover they are no longer gold."

Harry glanced at Lobsang and then leaned forward in his chair. This was one of the contingencies they had planned for. "Other countries have learned there are limits to their benefits. In all cases, Riders are exempt from military service and will not participate in weapons research. We can and will assist in any non-weapon research as well as helping out during times of national emergencies. You have seen what the Weyrs can do during disasters."

Jiabao nodded. "Yes I have seen what the Weyrs can do. Disasters are fickle things, but when they happen, any help is appreciated. I suppose you want to have some say in what kind of research we can undertake?"

"Only to an extent sir. As you admit, a dragon and his rider is a precious commodity. Would it not make sense to ensure the dragon and rider's safety? All of the research we are participating in around the world works under a few simple rules. The dragon and rider's safety is paramount. If an experiment endangers either, the rider or the Weyrleader can refuse to participate. Mind you that isn't a permanent refusal. If you come back and say 'here are the things we have done to make this safer.' We will reexamine the test and reconsider our decision to participate."

Jiabao nodded, that particular requirement was different than how the Chinese operated, but risking a dragon could result in the Weyr pulling out of any research efforts. It was a concession he was willing to give up in order to get the Weyr's help.

Harry glanced over at Lobsang who was looking a little lost, then he turned back to the Premier. "The Weyr wants to work with China sir. There is so much that can be done to help your great nation. All we ask in return is that we are partners, autonomous and willing to help your country achieve greatness."

"And you Weyrleader Lobsang? Do you share the Weyrleader's position?"

Lobsang blinked in surprise, then he glanced over to Harry who nodded to him. "The Weyrleader is right to be concerned about the health and well being of his dragons and riders. But these past years we have lived in a bubble, safe, but not content. All the other Weyrs worked with their host nations and I think it is time we do so as well. Our people want to help and have been more than a little jealous of the other Weyrs.

"The Weyrleader has convinced me that his plan will work and together China and the Weyrs will become great partners. I find I want to believe that," Lobsang replied honestly.

"_Working together can only make us stronger,"_ Chekiath suddenly announced.

"_The Weyrleader's plan is the best way to go__,"_ Jekrith added.

Jiabao's eyes widened and Harry chuckled. "Mister Premier, you will find that where a rider is, so is his dragon as well. Chekiath and Jekrith, our bonded dragons, are nearby, and unobserved by your security people. They hear our conversation through us and can participate despite their not being in this room."

"Are there other dragons nearby that my people cannot see?" Jiabao asked nervously.

Harry leaned back on his seat and reached for his tea. "Do your security people allow you to go un-escorted Mister Premier? We are all friends here and have no ill intent. Like a good security detail, they are unobtrusive."

"I see," replied Jiabao slowly, then he shook his head. Apparently it was true that you couldn't isolate the rider from the dragon, but it never occurred to him that the dragons could travel around without being seen. For all he knew there were hundreds of dragons nearby.

Bringing the Weyrleaders to his residence had been designed to put them into a defensive position, away from the dragons and perhaps nervous about being separated from the rest of their companions. It was a sound psychological ploy that had just failed in a spectacular fashion. Now Jiabao was the one wondering if he was in danger.

Realizing that Harry had basically leveled the playing field, Jiabao knew he had no choice but to press forward. "What is it you propose Weyrleader?"

"Campbeltown Weyr is willing to pay half the costs for the building of a research facility within your country, your government will pay the other half. You may assemble your own team of scientists to staff the facility. The Weyr will help in any research with the exception of weapons. We will also use a small part of the facility for the intent of giving you a means of contacting us in case of emergencies, as well as for teaching your people about dragons.

"We reserve the right to ask that any experiment be redesigned if we feel there is a significant risk to the life of a dragon or the rider. In return for this I am willing to offer my personal assurances that the Weyr will never interfere with your government inside or outside of your established borders. The Weyrs are and always will be neutral when it comes to conflicts between nations."

Harry leaned back in his chair and waited while Jiabao mulled over Harry's offer.

"And for this the Weyr's location will remain unknown to my government?"

"We are willing to allow some of your government to know our location as a gesture of good faith, but only those that are signatory to our agreement," Harry offered. This was one of the things he had planned on doing from the start, any agreement between China and the Weyr would also be covered by a magical contract that Maziang would draw up. There would be a simple compulsion on the contract that would make people think there was no reason to share the location of the Weyr.

"I propose that we meet again in two weeks at Sakushima Weyr in Japan where we can hammer out the exact wording of our agreement and then, if acceptable we can meet shortly afterwards to sign the agreement," Harry offered. "Personally I think this would be a benefit for both China and the Weyrs. By meeting in Japan we can control what the media sees in a fashion that will be favorable to both parties."

Jiabao blinked in surprise. The suggestion of holding talks in Japan was intriguing and since it was at an already established Weyr, they could control the access to the western media. It was a bold move that would make China look progressive and strong and yet the Weyr's could maintain their own image.

He leaned back in his chair and truly smiled for the first time in over an hour. This kind of publicity would mollify some of his detractors in the Politburo and strengthen the position of his allies. "I agree," he said finally. "One of my aides will be in contact with you to make the necessary arrangements Weyrleader."

Harry returned the smile and offered his hand. "The Weyrs look forward to working with China Mister Premier. And perhaps after the formal signing you would allow us to introduce you to our dragons?"

Jiaboa nodded happily, he was firmly convinced that despite a slight bump, he had gotten everything he wanted.

The three men talked for another two hours about various topics before Harry was able to politely make his excuses. He was pleased to see Lobsang warming up to the Premier. They never would be best friends, but there was a grudging respect being sown between the two.

After a limo ride back to the square, Harry climbed up behind Lobsang for the trip home.

Three minutes later he slid down from his position on Jekrith. Chekiath landed next to the other dragon and nodded in thanks. "Thank you for the ride home Jekrith, and you too Lobsang. I think you were right, I do need some rest."

Lobsang smiled and gave Harry a wave, then Jekrith leapt skyward and vanished. Jekrith had dropped him off right near his house, a fact he was very grateful for.

Harry nodded to Chekiath and the large dragon walked over to the dragon door and increased his weight until the door triggered. It was very late Scotland time and he was sure no one would be awake. Harry could feel his energy falling quickly.

Hermione and May looked up in surprise when the pair trudged into the house. Wing four had returned home a half hour earlier and they had been up waiting for him. Harry stepped inside and casually dropped his jacket and hat on a chair gave each of them a weak smile.

"May, call Janay in the morning and have her reschedule the next three days please," he said, then he walked past them both and entered their bedroom.

"_He is exhausted,"_ Chekiath said into the shocked silence.

Both girls leapt to their feet and hurried to follow him.

He sat on the bed, his eyes drooping. "I swear, no more multinational whirl wind tours," he said.

"Love, let us help you," Hermione said, then she moved closer and started to remove his dress uniform.

Harry chuckled, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I have the energy for that."

May looked up from pulling off one of his shoes. "Well that's obvious. Right now you don't have the energy for anything. But a good night's sleep will fix you up."

He grunted and let his wives help him into bed. In less than fifteen minutes he was asleep and Hermione and May retreated back into the living room.

"Should we call Issac?" Hermione asked worriedly.

May glanced towards the closed door for a moment, considering the question. "No, not now. Tomorrow or the day after we'll make him go see Issac. This trip of his has been hard on everyone, but no one has worked harder than he has. I'll call Janay and leave her a voicemail, he was right, his schedule needs to be cleared for a couple of days why don't you go join him. He may be asleep but you know how he's always a bit restless if one of us isn't there. I'll be in a few minutes."

Hermione nodded and headed back into the bedroom. She had hoped to find out how well the meeting with the Chinese Premier had gone. Harry had already told her it was her task to write the magical contract that would be disguised as an official treaty.

"_Lobsang wants you to know that the Weyrleader has been working too hard Hermione,"_ announced Comaloth.

She smiled. _"We know Coma, please tell Jekrith that he is already sleeping. Ask him if their meeting went well."_

"_Jekrith says it went very well, The Weyrleader got everything he wanted."_

Hermione smiled to herself, then she started to undress. _"Thank Jekrith for me, I'll get the details from Harry when he wakes up,"_ she replied silently.

She slid into bed next to Harry and reached for a book. With her free hand she reached out and gently touched him, letting him know she was nearby. Almost by instinct he turned and slid an arm around her.

"Sleep love," she whispered. "You've earned your rest."

**Kiev, the Ukraine, November 15th 2005...**

Anna handed her driver, the packages she had picked up, then she walked around to the open door. She and Carlos had been spending a considerable amount of time planning various acts of sabotage against the companies that were building Dragon Power plants. It was meticulous and exacting work and at times dreadfully dull.

Because of that, Carlos arranged for Anna to visit the nearby city of Kiev twice a week. She would pick up material needed for their planning and use the time to relax a little, taking in a concert or a play before returning to the camp.

Life in the camp was difficult at times but she was thankful that she never had to visit the muggle camp like Carlos needed to do several times a week. He frequently complained about the muggles they were training because they tended to be violent and hard to control. It didn't help that they held even Carlos with disdain because he wasn't part of their religion. If they discovered he was a wizard, they would have tried to kill him immediately.

"Where to now Miss?" asked Serge.

Anna looked up from her list. She had been checking off the items they needed for the next job. While the Russians provided the weapons, explosives and money. It was up to Anna to arrange for phony passports, travel tickets, maps and the like. The Russians had provided ample money, but they had left the planning and logistics behind each operation in Carlos' hands.

Anna took over that aspect, freeing up Carlos so that he had more time to train his volunteers. Fortunately for Anna there was a bustling black market in Kiev that she could tap into for forged documents and other needs.

Anna checked her watch, she had already picked up what they needed for this week, "I have tickets to a matinée Serge. So can you suggest someplace to lunch until it's time?"

Serge glanced up and looked at her in his rear view mirror. "I know just the place Miss, a most excellent Greek restaurant."

Anna nodded happily and Serge put the car in motion. She leaned back on her seat and relaxed for a moment.

As the car pulled away from the curb a nearby pedestrian flipped open his phone and spoke briefly, then two more cars pulled in behind the sedan with Anna in it. A third vehicle, this time a van, followed much further behind, closely monitoring a GPS tracker that had been placed on the car.

Anna was wanted by numerous countries and Interpol. She had been linked with the death of a German Interpol officer and his entire team of agents, so when she had been spotted by an Interpol agent, they jumped at the opportunity. This time they were sure, Anna would lead them to Carlos.

The only real kink in the operation was that it appeared Anna was spending her nights at a facility that was known to be owned by a member of the Ukrainian government. That led Interpol to incorrectly assume that the government was in on whatever scheme Carlos had going. And because of that assumption, they were running this operation without the knowledge of the Ukrainian government.

**Moscow Military District Headquarters, The Kremlin, December 1st, 2005...**

Major General Iskady Sukov looked up when the door to his office opened. His aide stepped inside and gave him a warm smile. They had been married for a little over a month and both of them were extremely happy. There had been a problem, but the Defence Minister had given Sukov special permission to marry his aide and keep her in her current position. It was rumored that the FIS had raised some questions, but the Defence Ministry managed to squash them neatly.

"Iskady, Colonel Istinova is outside waiting to see you," she said.

Sukov nodded. "Send him in Irina, then see we are not disturbed," he replied.

He had married Irina but in order to keep her in her position she had to retain her old name at least on a professional level. She also had to tell a Colonel in Military Intelligence about any FIS agents she knew about. Fortunately for Anna, she had only been aware of her immediate superior which was expected. The man had been transferred to a position of increased authority, but far away from Moscow.

Irina turned and exited the room. A moment later a short wiry man entered the office and stood at attention in front of Sukov's desk. He snapped off a salute and said, "Colonel Istinova reporting as ordered sir!"

Iskady absently returned the salute, then gestured to a side table. "Help yourself to some coffee and then take a seat Colonel. I know you must be very tired from your trip."

Istinova relaxed slightly and poured himself a coffee, then sat infront of the general. "It was a long flight sir," he admitted.

"And you're wondering why you were rousted out of your bed and put upon a transport plane?"

Istinova nodded. "It has crossed my mind several times."

Sukov glanced down at his desk and flipped open a folder. "Colonel Josef Istinova, served one tour in Afghanistan after you graduated from flight school. Wounded twice in combat and once you personally led a team of mechanics that held off an attack of Afghan bandits until help arrived. Since then you have qualified on nearly every major aircraft we have put into the field, including helicopters."

Sukov looked up from the file and eyed Istinova who looked embarrassed. "Helicopters are fun to fly," he admitted a bit sheepishly.

Sukov smiled in reply, then he glanced down at the dossier again. "You recieved a Order of Lenin for service in Afghanistan. You also have picked up several citations. When you assumed command of your own wing you instituted new training techniques that raised your wing's efficiency by nearly 20 percent. When you were taken before a review board over your unorthodox methods you refused to back down and were ultimately proven correct.

"That black mark however has effectively stalled your career," Iskady observed, looking up at Istinova.

Istinova's counternance darkened, but he said nothing.

Sukov slowly closed the dossier and leaned back on his chair. "Colonel, I have ordered you here because you have an uncanny ability to build a fighting unit that can think quickly and react to new situations. I brought you here to give you a chance at redemption in the eyes of command. You read the file you were given on the new SU-34 on your flight here yes?"

Istinova nodded, he was too shocked to say anything. He had been certain his career was stalled forever.

Sukov raised an eyebrow and waited.

Istinova flushed, then he straightened in his seat. "It is a very advanced airplane general, but I as puzzled by the extra suite of infra-red tools built into the standard configuration. Is the plane intended to be a high performance night fighter/bomber? Or perhaps its intended to counter the American's F117?"

Sukov nodded, he had expected an experienced pilot to reach those conclusions. The F117 was a stealth fighter/bomber with an extremely low radar and infra-red signature. The enhanced IR suite of the SU-34 appeared to be tailor made to counter a stealth aircraft.

"Yes that would be the impression most would have, but the SU-34's basic design has specially modified for a special mission, a mission that I want you to undertake."

"Sir?"

"The new fighter isn't supposed to reach the air fleet until March of next year, but I have managed to procure the first twelve fighters which you will take command of next month. Ultimately you will assemble three enlarged wings of twenty four fighters each, all trained to go up against a living opponent unlike any you have ever encountered before Colonel," Sukov said solemnly, then he fliped on a television and started a video tape of a dragon in flight.

"Dragons," Colonel Istinova said breathlessly.

"Dragons," agreed Sukov solemnly. He let the video play for a moment then he turned off the television. "Colonel I can't tell you how important this is to our country. These creatures are hurting our economy greatly and unless we stop them, they could cause great harm to our country. It's going to be your job to develop tactics to surprise these creatures and kill them where ever they may be.

"An office has been prepared for you one floor below this one. There you will find dossiers on our best pilots. Pick the first twelve who will serve as a core of your unit and I will see to their transfers. They will go on to train your other pilots and eventually the rest of our pilots."

Sukov fixed Istinova with a steely gaze. "Do this Josef Petraovich Istinova and you will have redeemed yourself and earned a star."

Istinova nodded, "I would be honored sir," he said thickly.

"Good, in two days time you will recieve new orders placing you permanently under my command. Your family will be relocated to comfortable quarters here in Moscow. I daresay Marianna and little Nickolai will enjoy the new posting. Captain Hannova, my aide will see that you are suitably billeted until your family arrives."

Istinova stood and saluted. "Yes sir!"

"Dismissed," Sukov said. He waited until Istinova left the room then he frowned. Istinova was good, one of the best pilots they had, but Sukov was certain he was asking for the impossible. The dragon's ability to teleport around the battlefield made every standard air combat tactic nearly useless.

He was having serious doubts about this coming war, but there was no stopping it. The only thing he could do is to do his best and hope it was enough.

**#10 Downing Street, London, December 19th 2005...**

Tony Blair looked up when the door opened and he smiled briefly. Harry Potter entered along with Lord Mills the Weyr liaison.

It had been a difficult year for the Weyr and Blair wasn't surprised to see it's effects on Harry Potter. His hair had a touch of gray at the temples and the beginnings of crow's feet at his eyes. Blair was generally pleased with how things had turned out, but he hoped things would go more smoothly from here on.

"Harry, come on in and sit down!" He called jovially. The Weyrleader was one of the few people that he had to deal with diplomatically that he actually liked.

Harry smiled and sat in a comfortable armchair and Blair chuckled to himself, long gone were the days when Harry was still learning what it meant to be a leader. Now he sat, confident in himself and his dragons and it showed.

"Harry, several years ago our people were running an operation which used a witch we had caught red handed swindling people," Blair said, then he passed a folder.

Harry took the folder and opened it. It showed a standard booking photo. "Anna Elizabeth Upton?" he murmured. He didn't recognize the name.

"That's right. She was linked to Carlos the Gerbil and we think she was involved when he was trying to stir up trouble after we took back the ministry. We caught Miss Upton a few years later, working the normal world as a psychic and con-artist. We didn't have enough proof to prove her connection to Carlos, and you know we're only allowed to question someone under truth potions about the crime which we arrested her for. So we convinced her to help us try and track down Carlos the Gerbil."

Harry looked up at that and Blair shrugged. "At the time our people thought they could use Miss Upton. Unfortunately there was an incident in Spain that resulted in the deaths of a team of Interpol agents and we lost track of Miss Upton. Originally we believed she had been killed when the lead agent running the detail went berserk and killed the entire detail.

"Both she and Carlos vanished from sight until recently, but we've always suspected that some of the attacks on the power plant construction sites might have been the work of the Gerbil. Or at least he was the guiding force behind it."

Harry nodded and placed the folder on the coffee table. "And now you've found your missing witch?"

Blair smiled tightly. "Indeed we have, she was spotted last month in the Ukraine. I can't tell you how surprised we were to discover she was still alive," he replied, then waved to a wall where a large map was hanging.

Harry frowned. "The Ukraine, well that complicates things doesn't it?"

Blair glanced at the map and then back to Harry. "Oh? I know why I think its a problem, but what do you think?"

Harry stood and walked over to the map. "The Ukraine is an independent country and yet its firmly in the Russian sphere of influence. That suggests that whatever Carlos is doing, he's doing it with Russian approval and support."

"We thought the Russians might be involved," James said. "Remember when I told you about the explosives used?"

Harry glanced over to Lord Mills and nodded grimly. "That's right, you said the stuff was former Soviet explosives easily obtained on the black market. And then you added it was nearly impossible to tell old surplus Soviet stuff from newer Russian explosives because they still used the same factories."

"That's right, we had one piece that said Russia might be involved," James replied. "Now here is another piece of the puzzle, Carlos in the Ukraine also suggests Russian involvement."

"Suggests, but that doesn't prove it," Harry said quietly.

"No Harry, it doesn't," added Tony Blair, pleased that Harry made the connection.

"So what is Carlos doing in the Ukraine?"

Tony Blair used a laser pointer to highlight a spot on the map. "We traced Miss Upton to this location. It's a heavily guarded site but we have managed to confirm Carlos is there at least part of the time. It seems he travels between this site and another some five kilometers away. Both sites seem to be designed as training facilities. Our analysts think this is where they train the people that have been causing so many problems for the dragon power plant construction sites."

Tony frowned and consulted a file. "The first camp, the one that Miss Upton is staying at seems to consist mostly of European wizards. They are being taught stealth techniques and how to use regular munitions. They also seem to be getting instruction on politics for several European nations. We believe they may be behind the movements started by Greenpeace and some of the other activist groups.

"The second camp is more troubling as we've spotted members of several Islamic terrorist organizations. We are hesitant to share this with the Yanks for obvious reasons. The training we've seen is strictly terrorist in nature. Explosives and attack techniques, how to plan operations for maximum effect, that sort of thing."

Harry nodded. "Yes, an American strike against the camp would surely provoke a Russian response. And the Yanks seem incapable of keeping something like that quiet."

Harry stood and walked over to the map and studied it for a moment, then he turned to Blair. "You didn't bring me here just to tell me this, you want something," he stated.

Tony smiled thinly. "I keep telling people you are a lot sharper than anyone realizes. Yes, we'd like dragon help. We need to take these camps out and hopefully neutralize Carlos, the problem is that we can't assault these camps openly. I'm not asking that the dragons do so, but I'm hoping the dragons could carry a multi-national assault force on a covert mission to neutralize these camps. They wouldn't be picked up by radar and it would keep the Ukraine out of the picture.

"When the assault is over, everyone will deny involvement, leaving Ukraine, and Russia with a mystery on their hands."

Harry nodded slowly, he knew that Blair wasn't planning on these people being arrested. Neutralized meant killed.

Harry turned back to the map. Harry ran down the list of manned Weyrs in his mind. "Campbeltown can't do it, nor can Condron, riders of either of those Weyrs are just too well known," he muttered. "There are a number of Weyrs that are involved in projects which are important... half a moment." Harry looked up and his eyes glazed over.

"_Lakreth is your rider busy?"_ he sent. Joensuu Weyr had worked very hard to build itself as a haven for riders needing a break. They did many of the same jobs as the other Weyrs, but their reputation for providing recreational facilities had hurt their reputation among the Weyrs. Having Joensuu participate would go a long way to correcting that problem.

Blair's eyes widened as a faint glow surrounded Harry. Lord Mills raised a hand and motioned for the Prime Minister to stay silent for a moment.

"_Weyrleader, no he is just working at his desk which he hates. Shall I interrupt him?"_

Harry smiled, he could empathize with that. _"Please ask him to join me. Chekiath will provide jump imagery."_

Harry turned his attention back to the Prime Minister. "I've sent for Ismo Sippola, the Weyrleader for Joensuu Weyr in Finland. His Weyr was created when I evacuated the dragons from Russia. Can someone meet him on the roof? He should be here shortly."

Blair nodded shakily, he knew that Harry was a wizard, but the amount of visible magic he had seen Harry perform was nearly zero. "You were glowing!"

Harry arched an eyebrow and looked at James who nodded. "Aye lad, you were."

Harry sighed and walked over to the couch to sit down. James reached for a phone and spoke briefly to someone while Harry rubbed his temples.

"Harry?" asked Tony Blair.

"I try very hard to keep my magic use to a minimum," Harry said. "As Weyrleader I need to set an example for my riders, most of whom are not magical. Unfortunately my magical power is still peaking and won't stop until I'm nearly forty. Sometimes when I use my magic I have a visible aura, it's not something I do deliberately, it just happens.

"I have been talking with a mage in Japan who has been offering some useful advice in controlling my powers. It's just that lately it's been hard to find the time to put those ideas into practice. Some days it seems like I don't have ten minutes to myself."

Blair chuckled. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Harry, there is another issue while we wait that I do need to bring up. As you know there has been considerable pressure both for and against the relationships we're seeing in the Weyrs. As of right now the laws remain unchanged. However my office has circulated a memo around the country basically stating that the government will not support any court proceedings against riders for being in multiple relationships. Lord Mills here has convinced me and others that it would be a really bad idea to bring any of you riders up on charges. He seems to think you would insist on including the dragons in any trial."

Harry smirked. "Oh I doubt anyone would be able to keep them away Tony, you couldn't put just the humans on trial, and you would find the world laughing at the idea of holding a non-human intelligent species to human morals. Did you know that the Goblins also have multiple relationships, and ritual slavery as well as a policy of advancement by combat. You can advance your position in the bank by either performing some extraordinary service or by killing your superior. Granted they are slowly doing away with that practice, but it still exists.

"The Centaurs tend to have harems with many females and only a few stallions per tribe. A young male is cast out from the herd at age fifteen to spend a couple of years on his own before returning to the tribe and fighting for his own choice of females."

Blair blanched and held up a hand. "Alright I get it besides, it's not an issue right now and I hope to eventually get Parliament to approve it, even if they do it quietly."

A door opened and Ismo Sippola entered the office looking rather flustered and confused. Ismo was blond like the typical northern European stereotype, but that was the only thing he adhered to. As tall as Harry and just as stocky in the shoulder and thighs, he had a much broader chest than Harry. He was also very soft spoken.

Harry walked over to Ismo and shook his hand in greeting. "Ismo, thank you for coming. I'd like you to meet Prime Minister Blair," he said, leading the Finnish Weyrleader over to Tony.

"Mister Prime Minister, I present to you, the man who will lead your dragon airlift, Ismo Sippola of Joensuu Weyr," Harry said formally.

Blair rose from his desk and walked around it to offer his hand. "Weyrleader Sippola, thank for coming."

"You're you're welcome," stammered Sippola.

Harry clapped a hand on Ismo's shoulder and gently faced him towards the map. He quickly explained the problem and how they would get around being detected by using the dragons to airlift in the assault troops.

"I'd use Campbeltown Ismo, but we nearly tangled with Russia over the Saudi issue, besides your dragons are originally from Russia. If Joensuu does this and you get caught, the Russians would hesitate, at least long enough for me to mobilize the Weyrs. Personally I don't think you will get caught, but it's wise to plan ahead." Harry explained.

Harry understood that any hint of Campbeltown involvement could escalate the tension between Russia and the Weyr. Despite the fact that all of the Weyrs answered to Harry, people still thought that the local Weyrleader had full control over his Weyr. It was a small matter of perception, but no one was about to dissuade that viewpoint.

Ismo smiled grimly, "We won't let you down Harry."

Harry pat him on the back. "I know you won't. Prime Minister Blair still has details to arrange. In the meantime why don't you join me at Campbeltown for dinner and we can make some plans."

Ismo nodded and looked at Blair who stepped forward. "Of course, of course, you'll need jump imagery I imagine. I'll have my office email you the GPS coordinates also I'm sure we'll have coordinate with the assault force for training."

A dragon rider would have to jump to the nearest, non-Russian location and then fly straight through to the GPS coordinates in order to get the jump imagery. As good as the dragons were, there was simply no way for them to use latitude and longitude coordinates as destinations for jumps Between.

Lord Mills and Minister Blair watched the two men exit the room, then Blair turned his attention to Mills. "Funny, I thought Harry would have jumped for the opportunity to get personally involved."

James chuckled, "Normally he would have, but he has learned that he simply cannot do everything. And by asking Joensuu Weyr to participate he helps that Weyr build it's image among the other Weyrs."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Joensuu performs many of the same duties as every other Weyr, but they also have worked very hard to provide a place for riders to go and rest. Ismo Sippola has built a resort into the Weyr and a convalescent spa. The emphasis on the resort has hurt their reputation a bit among the other Weyrs.

"Joensuu didn't want to set up a research station like so many other Weyrs. They wanted to become known for helping other riders. The Weyr is more like a resort park than a real working Weyr. They do provide dragons to guard construction sites and they did take part in Harry's action against the Yanks, but they still had an image of being soft. I think it's an unjust image and Harry agrees that it's unjust. So by asking them to help, the Weyr shows that they can do more that provide a vacation spot for dragon riders," Mills said, then he paused and said, "Plus there's one more issue why Harry didn't involve Campbeltown but I bet he never even realized it was affecting his decision."

Blair looked at him with intrigue in his expression. "What other issue?"

Mills smiled widely. "Both of Harry's wives are pregnant and I don't think he really wants to upset them."

Blair looked at him for a moment, then he began to laugh. "An excellent decision," he replied finally.

**Harry's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, January 1st 2006...**

Harry opened the door and smiled warmly at Remus and Mildred. "Happy new year! Come in! Come in!"

Mildred stepped in, followed by Remus who handed Harry a large bottle of champaign. "Come on in, Sirius and Katherine are already here, Ronan and Karen are also here. Dobby says dinner will be ready shortly. Did you have a good flight?"

Mildred laughed at that. "Harry, from here to Canada and back takes less than two minutes. I'm not sure it qualifies as a flight."

"Yeah, there's no in-flight movie," Sirius shouted from the dining table.

Katherine calmly elbowed him and he looked at her sheepishly. They had been married for over five years now and Katherine still wasn't sure if Sirius had grown up very much. The couple had tried for several years to have children without success. Finally they sought Isaac's help and he sent them to a specialist that determined Sirius was unable to father any children. Sometime during his stay in Azkaban he lost the ability to father children. Isaac didn't tell Sirius, but it was strongly suspected that he had been cursed since there was nothing wrong physically with him.

The news came as a shock to the couple and a deep blow to Sirius. His offer of divorce resulted in the only time Katherine ever hit Sirius, knocking him out for three solid minutes. After he woke up he had to deal with a storm of tears for another thirty minutes.

The couple did eventually have a child, but not in the usual sense. The Weyr responded to a English Channel ferry disaster and one of the people saved was a three year old girl who lost both her parents. Normally Sirius would not have gone along with the Weyr, but in this particular case he was flying on Norendrath when Harry called for an all wings response from the Weyr.

Sirius personally rescued little Kristin and when he learned she was an orphan with no family, he told Katherine he wanted to adopt her.

With the help of the Prime Minister's office, the adoption was fast tracked and two months later, Katherine and Sirius were the proud parents of a little girl that had captured the hearts of the Weyr.

Kristin was an ordinary little girl and the dragons didn't know if she could impress, but that didn't matter. She fit into the Weyr as if she had been born around dragons. Sirius doted on her and Katherine often spent her time trying to prevent Sirius from spoiling their daughter.

Sirius and Katherine presented the only stumbling block to what Harry wanted to accomplish tonight, but he was pretty sure he had a plan to deal with them.

Dinner was superb as usual thanks to Dobby. Harry sat in between Hermione and May who were both clearly pregnant. May had managed to work up her nerve finally to tell Harry who had already guessed. It was only in the past two weeks that Issac had confirmed that Harry had been correct. Hermione was pregnant with a boy and May was having a girl.

Despite the available space, Dobby and his mate Tisky only ate with Harry, Hermione and May when they weren't having guests. When they had a function like this, even one that Harry called a family function, the two elves ate elsewhere.

After the meal Harry called Dobby and asked him to take Kristen from Katherine for an hour or two. Katherine looked surprised at that and Harry shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry Katherine, but Kristen is at an age where she's apt to repeat things she's heard. What we're going to talk about now isn't for her ears just yet and you know she'll be perfectly safe with Dobby."

Katherine nodded, Kristin was now a precocious five years old and often asking people about conversations she had overheard. Sirius learned the hard way to control his tongue after the first time Katherine heard little Kristen say "bugger me!".

Karen held her son Jason and she placed him in a bassinet that Harry had placed nearby. At barely a month old Jason was not a concern to security. Jason had been born a little later than expected, but the whole Weyr celebrated with his parents when he came home from the hospital.

Katherine nodded and Harry gestured to Ronan who stood and walked over to Harry's computer that had been setup for this evening. The computer was attached to the large wall TV as a display.

Harry leaned back on his chair and watched Ronan for a moment then he turned back to the others. "What I'm about to tell you is a Weyr secret. Remus and Mildred are bound by the confidentiality agreements they signed when they were hired on by Dragon Services. Sirius, you're also bound by the same agreement."

Harry paused and looked at Katherine. "Katherine, every bone in my body says you can be trusted and Chekiath agrees. So I'll ask you outright. If I were to reveal a secret to you that not even the British government knows, would you keep it?"

Everyone turned to look at her and she sucked in a breath then she straightened in her chair. "I can only give you an answer of it depends Harry. If your secret threatened the safety of the country that I'm bound in service to, then no I couldn't keep it secret."

"And if the secret didn't really affect any country and in no way threatened the security of the United Kingdom?" Harry pressed.

"If it truly didn't affect the country then I couldn't see any reason to divulge it. I'm sorry, but I gave an oath to protect and defend my country," she replied. "If you want, I can return to our cottage."

Harry raised a hand causing her to settle back down in her chair. "I'm satisfied with your answer Katherine, just like I'm satisfied that nothing we're planning will hurt the United Kingdom. The dragons are satisfied that you are trustworthy and I am inclined to agree with them."

"Goodness Harry, I know this has been bothering you for months, but honestly, Katherine isn't going to tell on us," Hermione said. "And frankly I'm dying to know also, especially after that build up."

Sirius turned to Harry in surprise, "Your own wives don't know?"

Harry made a sour face, "Until recently I wasn't even sure that we'd do this. I'm not about to tell someone about a project that I wasn't sure it was even going to get off the ground," he answered then he turned to May and Hermione. "I'm sorry, it wasn't that I didn't trust either of you, I just didn't know if it was possible and if we should even attempt it."

May and Hermione frowned at him, but before they could say anything Sirius jumped in. "Ladies, stop that right here," he said firmly, surprising them. "I know for a fact that Katherine has secrets that she can't share with me. She's a major in charge of security at the Weyr, she's not guarding the Queen or protecting some deep national project and she still has some secrets. Harry's The Weyrleader, he probably has secrets within secrets. It's part of his job and not a reflection on either of you. I imagine that you both know more than any of us in this room and any secret you don't know, is because Harry has a good reason not to tell you it yet."

Harry coughed lightly and Sirius looked at him bashfully for a moment. "Thank you Sirius, but tonight you are all going to learn about one secret in particular."

Harry stood and walked over to where Ronan stood. "Several years ago the American Space Program people wanted to see if dragons could go into space and I refused."

"I remember that!" exclaimed Mildred. "You told them that until they strap an astronaut onto an engine and shoot him into space, you weren't going to risk a rider and dragon."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah well they basically wanted to put a rider into a suit and send him and the dragon into space. While I thought the idea was insane, I thought it bore more looking into."

He placed a hand on Ronan's shoulder. "At the same time, and by a stroke of fate, my wing second expressed an intense desire to take his hobby and turn it into a career of sorts by becoming an engineer."

Mildred chuckled, "Harry, he didn't just become an engineer, he specialized in aeronautical design. In fact with the sole exception of yourself, every member of his model airplane club went to school for..."

She trailed off and stared at Harry in shock. "No, it's not possible," she whispered. "You planned this didn't you?"

Harry just grinned. "It's funny how the model airplane club turned out four aeronautical engineers, two electrical engineers, eight other engineers of varying specialties and more than a dozen competent machinists who formed the core for our manufacturing group. The Dragon design group now has over one hundred riders from every manned Weyr and half of them have engineering degrees. With my approval they've turned out everything from the new harnesses to the dragon winch and the egg delivery system."

Harry stepped back to his chair and motioned to Ronan. "Go ahead Ronan, tell them the rest."

Ronan shuffled a little nervously. "At the time that I realized we needed specialized tools that couldn't be found elsewhere, Harry came to me with some questions. You see, he and I had been talking about outer space and how the single biggest problem with exploring space was the weight to lift cost ratio."

Remus leaned forward in confusion. "I'm sorry, the what to what?"

"The weight to lift cost ratio," Mildred said softly, "right now it costs millions of US dollars to lift a few hundred pounds of cargo. Launching a space shuttle with a satellite like the Hubble can cost over a billion dollars."

"That's right," Ronan agreed. "But dragons don't have that particular problem. One dragon can lift a cargo container weighing up to fifteen tons and take it anywhere in the world, including straight up."

Ronan paused and pointed one finger skyward. "Harry didn't like the NASA proposal because it exposed a rider to one of the harshest environments known. When NASA learned that dragons were capable of an extended exposure to outer space without any harm they jumped on the idea without fully thinking it through. It seemed to me that the only thing we needed to do was protect the riders, but a space suit was not the way to go about it like NASA suggested. Harry decided that for the time being, any discussion concerning outer space was to be a Weyr secret. But he also had another concern.

Ronan paused and took a deep breath, "He was concerned that eventually hot rocks would be replaced."

"How?" exclaimed Katherine sharply.

"Fusion power is one possibility," Mildred offered. "Renewable power sources like wind or tide generated power offer other options. Every one of those have shortcomings that haven't been overcome yet, but they will eventually solve the problems. If you look at history, coal had supremacy for about a century, then it shared the stage with oil. Coal was waning heavily in the states, but a lot of countries still use it. I suppose it's reasonable to expect Hot Rocks will take over fully from oil by the middle of the century."

"That's right. Harry told me that he believes that Hot Rocks will see at least a century of use before something comes along to replace it," Ronan said.

"It would be foolish to ignore progress. Just the other day I saw a perfect example of it. Exxon and BP's joint research project has started to pay off. Their new heat transfer chamber design is twenty five percent more efficient than the one they first came up with," Harry said, then he paused and glanced over at Ronan. "After many talks with Ronan and some of model airplane club members, I authorized him to put together a team of our best designers to work on Weyr problems and in their spare time, work on keeping us relevant."

"Relevant how?" asked Hermione suspiciously. She thought she had known about most of the Weyr's activities but this appeared to be something new. Hermione, as recorder for all the Weyrleader meetings, knew that space was a Weyr secret, but she hadn't witnessed Harry's private conversations with Ronan.

Ronan tapped a key on the keyboard and the television image changed from the standard desktop to a 3D rendered view of... something.

"What is that?" exclaimed Mildred. She immediately reached for her glasses and stared at the large screen.

"This is a rendered version of what we officially called the 'Dragon's egg', but most of us just call it the egg for short. It is a self contained capsule, fifty feet long and twenty feet in diameter. There's room inside for six people and thanks to the modular construction we can provide enough air and water for up to ten days for people," Ronan said.

The screen showed what looked like a long tube, as if someone had cut out the middle section of a submarine. There were six pairs of legs along its length. At one end there were several large globes packed in a lattice work, at the opposite end there was a empty claw.

Along the top of the egg there was a row of what looked like open garbage cans of differing sizes. Finally there was a man-sized door and a ladder going down to the same level as the legs in the middle of the egg.

Ronan stepped up to the screen and pointed. "The claw is designed to hold satellites. Many satellites these days have their own rocket motors to move them to the correct orbit, so we just need to get them in the general area and their own engine will move them into the proper position.

"With the ability to put satellites in orbit cheaply, the Weyr will see a huge income stream that is not related to hot rocks or products reliant on hot rock technology. Additionally claw is removable and we have an alternate configuration that allows us to couple the egg to a standard inter-modal cargo container. With some additional engineering to provide a way to dock the container, we'd be able to lift tons of supplies to the international space station, and more often than it's done now."

Ronan paused and grinned. "I've even got a group of people looking into redesigning the cargo containers so that they could be used as empty modules by the ISS, either for crew space or storage.

"Along the top of the egg are five different breathing bays, each bay has an adaptable ring designed to accommodate different classes of dragons. The dragon will stick their head inside a bay, that will engage a switch that will inflate an airtight collar around the dragon's neck. The dragon will then be able exhale and take another breath of air, extending their ability to remain in space.

"While we expect a typical satellite lifting mission to take less than an hour, we wanted to provide more time to be in space. If we had six riders and six dragons lifting the egg, maximum allowable time would be only twenty four hours, but we could easily lift hundreds of tons of cargo during a twenty four hour period before the O2 tanks would need to be refilled. On average the dragons only need to breath in once per half hour, but their lung capacity is many times that of a rider. The breathing bays and oxygen capacity of the Egg were designed to handle dragons holding their breath for up to seventy five percent of their maximum recorded time. Its not set up to allow dragons to breath continuously, to allow for that we'd need to nearly triple the size of the capsule and all of that would be breathable air."

"How much of this is designed and how much is concept?" Mildred asked intently.

Ronan smiled at her. "Its only a guess, but I would say that at least sixty percent of the mechanical systems are designed. The electronics and computer software is lagging behind somewhat, but I'd say it's somewhere between forty and fifty percent. We've already started ordering some of the sub-systems and have begun machining parts. There is a lot of work to do still, but we have a target goal of having a test egg ready for testing by mid 2007."

Mildred slumped back in her chair. "My god," she muttered. "This could revolutionize the satellite launching industry."

"And that's why we need you to help Mildred," Harry said softly. He motioned towards the screen, then towards Ronan who still wore a bandage over his hand. The cast was long gone and his hand was healing well, but it would never be a pretty sight. "Mildred, we need people with experience. Ronan was injured because of a technique he used was fundamentally unsafe. It worked for a number of successful installations, but the last one could have killed him. There have been other accidents because we have a bunch of people straight out of university with no practical experience. We need people to help with the practical matters and to help determine our direction.

"In a few days time we will be breaking ground to build a brand new manufacturing building that our engineering group will use it to turn out the specialty items each Weyr needs, and to build the egg. The construction company will erect the building, then we'll turn it over to the elves for all the interior fixtures, power and lighting.

"While that's going on we need someone like you to look beyond our idea of just putting satellites in orbit and see what else we can do. Ronan talked about mining asteroids, can we do that? Should we talk to mining companies? I don't know and I don't know who else to ask about that other than you.

"Sir Scott is a great scientist and he's leading the efforts and joint partnerships wonderfully. But he's not an astrophysicist, space isn't his field of expertise," Harry said, then he smirked. "Besides, you're family like Katherine. I know I can trust Sir Scott, but in the end he's not family. I know my family and know I can trust them to keep our secrets."

Both Katherine and Mildred gaped at him for a moment, then their cheeks colored.

"What would you need me to do? You know I've been busy teaching," she asked.

Harry nodded to Ronan.

"Initially it would be mostly looking over our shoulder and trying to find pieces we missed. For example one of my guys designed the interior layout of the egg and it took us two weeks to realize he had forgotten to include a bathroom," Ronan said with a chuckle. "Harry has told me that as we get closer to testing he wanted to open us up to some scientific payloads as well as paying commercial contracts."

Mildred turned to Harry who looked a little abashed. "It just seemed to me that we would have an easier time getting our first launch customers if we took on a few heavily discounted or even free science packages."

"That is a very good idea," Remus murmured.

Mildred sat for a moment before smiling broadly and nodding to Harry. While it wasn't pure science, here was a chance for her to help mankind get to space. And if she was lucky, maybe even get there herself.

"Well I'm glad that's settled," May announced. "Hermione and I were getting tired of pretending to not notice when Harry was visiting some astronomy website."

She looked at Harry and arched one eyebrow. "You do remember that Hermione takes notes for your Weyrleader meetings and you made the whole issue of space travel a Weyr secret during one of those meetings?"

He looked down at the table when the others chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said, "I made it a secret to keep outsiders from knowing about it. I never meant to keep it a secret from you."

'Outsider' was a new Weyr term, first coined by Lee Jordan to refer to anyone that wasn't a dragon rider or part of an Weyr. Everyone present, even the non-riders were considered part of Campbeltown. Someone like Lord Mills who only spent his days here, or Sir Scott, who ran the research part of Dragon Services were outsiders, special outsiders with privileges, but still outsiders.

May reached across the table and stroked his hand for a moment. "We know and understand Harry."

"We do," Hermione agreed, "but we hope you know that you can talk to us about anything?"

Harry smiled. "I do, but I will try to remember that more often."

"Well now thats settled, perhaps I can get some help. Kristin wants a pet dragon," Sirius announced with a broad smile.

Katherine nodded with a smile. "She seems to feel that so many in the Weyr have a pet dragon, that maybe if she's a good girl, she might get one."

Harry's expression grew pinched. "Goddess knows I don't like disappointing her. But..."

"Harry? Do you remember Cethath?" asked May.

"She's that dragon from Aogashima Weyr, the one who developed a wing joint problem?" Harry asked.

May nodded. "She came to us late last year and we haven't been able to help much with the problem. X-Rays show damage to her joint that looks similar to damage that some people have from Arthritis. Unfortunately the Arthritis potion doesn't work on dragons, Maziang is looking into that but so far they've had no luck. Anyway, unless we get lucky, she's permanently grounded."

Harry winced. Permanently grounding a dragon is near condemning them to a slow death. A grounded dragon tended to become depressed and sooner or later, despite the inability to fly, they would leap skyward and take that fateful trip Between.

May was dealing with the issue of dragons that arrived at the Weyr and may never return to their home Weyr. So far the Weyr had six permanently grounded dragons. There would have been more, but most suicided when they were told that they couldn't fly again.

"I have been, with her permission, trying new treatments and trying to find something to keep her mind off of her condition. It strikes me that we could use the children of the Weyr to help our sick dragons. We have what? Twenty kids ranging from one to nine years old," May said. Everyone knew she was referring to Francis, Doctor Sheppard's daughter was the oldest child in the Weyr. "My point is why not organize the kids like a scout troop, let them help by the distracting the dragons from their problems. I could easily see the older kids oiling the dragons or even just reading to them."

Harry considered the idea for a moment. "I don't have a problem with it May, but it doesn't solve Kristin wanting a pet dragon. I suppose we could give her Padfoot," he said with a smile.

"No!" Katherine said sharply, then she looked directly at her husband. "If Kristin is getting any kind of pet I want something that's easy to house train and we all know Padfoot isn't housebroken. I'll buy her a kitten instead."

Sirius stared at his wife with his jaw on the floor while everyone else broke up in laughter.

May's idea would ultimately lead to the formation of the Weyr youth league dedicated to helping the older infirm or non-bonded dragons. The league would eventually be responsible for some of the most famous Weyr and wing leaders.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries...**

* For those that suddenly woke up two and a half books later and decided to complain about Harry not using magic to protect himself and his dragon. Forget about it, its just not going to happen. Harry hasn't taken his NEWTS and while Hermione has taught him every spell she knows, he's not about to spend time researching how to cast a shield that encompasses him and his dragon.

If you don't like the fact that Harry is relying more on his dragon's abilities and technology rather than magic, then I suggest you fire up your word processor and get to writing your own story.

* Okimi Bijuudama wants to know what happened to the rider that was shot in Japan. Yes, Harry was informed, but it was only a minor sub plot to illustrate the lengths in which the Russians would go to find out information about the Dragons. You'll also hear a little more about it, from the Russian perspective in this chapter. Harry's involvement in this particular incident is minimal. He is responsible for thousands of dragons and the leadership of the Japanese Weyr is handling the matter to his satisfaction. Harry cannot be expected to micromanage every thing in every weyr.

* AlsoknownasMatt, don't worry, the kid gloves are off and the next time the Weyr is forced into that kind of situation, the only concern will be the safety of the dragons.

* NabikiB, while your review made for some puzzling reading and seemed unrelated to anything in this story, you do realize that Harry is a politician whether he likes it or not.

* StevenG you must be seriously bored if you're reading and responding to reviews. I think you need a new hobby.

* Bluedragon of the 13, your question is answered in this chapter. I'm curious why you didn't complete the name. Shouldn't you be Bluedragon of the 13 smelly socks?

* Caspian123, PETA can complain all they want, I have dragons on my side, and unlike PETA, they don't mind eating people.

* Just a reminder that people that do not sign in, have their reviews deleted and their questions unanswered. I do try to reply to some of the questions directly, but if you're not signed in, I can't reply to your question. And the fact that I automatically delete unsigned reviews means they can't even get answered here. So if you really want some kind of response, LOG IN before you review.


	14. Chapter 14

**Standard Disclaimer:**

"_Harry?"_

"Yes Cheki?"

"_Where are Bob and Alyx? It's time for the disclaimer again."_

Harry frowned and looked around the deserted stage. "Alyx is plotting to get revenge on some neighbors who egged their house. I'm not sure where Bob is off to, something about a naked donut delivery girl convention."

"Oh," Chekiath replied, "So who is going to give the disclaimer? Or start the story?"

Suddenly Bob dashed onto the stage and both Harry and Cheki breathed a sigh of relief. That meant that they didn't need to make up a disclaimer.

"Sorry about that folks, but the convention ran longer than I expected it to, they spent a lot of timing debating whether or not to include muffins in their deliveries," Bob said with a bit of a leer.

"I'm afraid Alyx isn't going to join us tonight, she's a bit busy dealing with a couple of neighbors. A few kids egged the side of our house, now she wants to pay them back. I tried to tell her that dinosaur eggs won't do the same kind of damage as chicken eggs, but she wouldn't listen to me."

Bob smiled broadly at the audience. "So I can proudly give you this disclaimer, free of any of Alyx's zaniness and violence. We do not own Harry Potter or the Dragon Riders of Pern. Furthermore we are not responsible for the massive number of injuries from the improper use of Alyx's cold steam powered sex toys and our hearts go out to the families of the victims. Next time people will read and follow the instructions."

Bob walked over to the big button that started the chapter. He was about to push the big button when Alyx walked onto the staging grinning madly.

"Did you know that dinosaur eggs are fossilized? You only need about a half dozen of those suckers to knock a house down when you use a catapult!" she exclaimed.

Bob shook his head, he was certain there was another law suit in the making in this disclaimer. Quickly he pushed the big button to start the chapter.

"_Whew! That was close,"_ Chekiath exclaimed.

"I know mate, she's more scary than Hermione and May pms'ing," replied Harry. "Oh look, the chapter is starting!"

* * *

**Beneath Sovereign Skies  
Chapter 14  
Closures and Decisions**

* * *

**The Ukraine, near the training camps, January 20th 2006...**

Ismo slid down to land lightly on Lakreth's leg, then he jumped down the remaining distance.

Nearby two wings of dragons gently landed with two dozen over-sized cargo containers containing vehicles and supplies. All of the dragons had exited Between at exactly one hundred feet, well below any radar coverage in the area. The Weyr had practiced the move for a week before the military authorities finally realized that dragons would always exit Between at the altitude they chose.

The clearing wasn't natural, at some point in recent times someone had gone to a lot of trouble to clear a large area that was several acres in size. Nature was starting to reclaim the land, but Ismo and his magical riders had snuck in several days ago and cleared the area again using magic.

The Ukrainian magical population was very small. It wasn't until 2000 that they were formally admitted to the ICW. Compared to other European countries, their ministry was still weak and disorganized and most importantly, had yet to set up any sort of magical detection grid like most European country's had to detect magic in unexpected regions.

Ismo spotted Adam, his second in command and leader of Division two, directing the unloading of the troops and smiled in approval. The wings were landing and unloading the multinational force with precision. Once he admired Campbeltown and their precision, but now he could admit that his dragons looked just as good.

The assault team consisted of special forces from several countries. Ismo only knew that the British and Finland were involved. They had trained loading and unloading at a Finnish military base, and the British had been Ismo's initial contact. All of the troops he had worked with wore uniforms with no unit designations or country markings. The troops spoke nearly every language Ismo could recognize. As it had been explained to Ismo, the countries involved wanted this as secret as possible.

During training, French seemed to be the preferred language used by the assault force.

All told the attack involved nearly just over one hundred special troops which the Weyr was ferrying tonight.

The cargo containers were thrown open and soldiers entered each one. One by one standard commercial pickup trucks were driven out of the container and a group of soldiers would pile into the flat bed in the back. One out of every four trucks contained a special mount that the soldiers quickly attached a machine gun to.

"All down now Ismo," Adam said softly. The dragons and the riders would not be helping the soldiers at all. They were here just for transportation.

"Excellent, the wings did good Adam," Ismo said. "They looked really smart."

"As good as Campbeltown?" Adam asked with a chuckle. It was something of a joke among the Weyrleaders that everyone wanted their Weyr to be as good as Campbeltown.

"Better, but don't tell Harry I said that," Ismo replied with a laugh.

Adam laughed softly, then he noticed a man waving at him. "There they go," Adam said softly. At some unseen signal the vehicles fired up their engines and slowly made their way out of the clearing. Adam noted each driver was fitted with night vision goggles.

It took barely three minutes for all of the trucks and soldiers to leave the clearing. Ismo reached into a bag and pulled out a thermos. "Let's get a wing airborne to keep an eye on things, remind them to keep below three hundred feet."

Three hundred feet was below the real radar limit. They chose the one hundred foot entry point to reduce the chance of the cargo containers being picked up.

Adam nodded and trotted off to speak to one of his wing leaders. Lakreth moved closer and Ismo smiled up at his dragon before settling down. "Thanks Lakie, I wasn't looking forward to sitting on the cold ground."

"_Its not too bad. Between is colder,"_ Lakreth observed.

"_Still I don't think __my skin is as tough as yours,"_ Ismo replied.

"_Of course it isn't, I have scales and hide. You have just skin. I've seen plastic bags stronger than your skin."_

Ismo frowned and was about to reply when Ingrid showed up. "Are you arguing with your dragon again?" she asked teasingly.

He turned to his wife, "I wouldn't be arguing with him if he wasn't so smug."

Ingrid reached up and gently rubbed Lakreth's eye ridges. "He's not smug, he's just very opinionated, like his rider."

She reached into a bag and pulled out a Coleman camp heater powered by a small amount of pebble sized Hot Rocks and with a flip of a latch, it opened up and started to radiate heat. She took up a position sitting on Lakreth's other paw and absently scratched the dragon along the base of his neck.

"_Now Ingrid knows how to treat me. Aren't you glad I picked her out for you?"_ Lakreth asked smugly.

Ingrid laughed at Ismo who sputtered and glared at his dragon.

Suddenly the sound of gunfire was heard breaking the silence in the clearing. It was distant, but clearly discernible. The clearing was closest to the training camp of terrorists than it was to the wizards, but it was still nearly two miles away.

Ismo stood up and looked in the direction of the sound but there was nothing to see. "That doesn't sound good," he muttered.

"No, even their live fire exercise wasn't that noisy," Ingrid agreed. "Do you think something has gone wrong?"

Adam hurried over to Ismo with a worried expression on his face. He skidded to a halt only a few feet away and Ismo held up a hand silencing him.

Ismo considered the plan he had seen the soldiers practice. Since the Weyr only had a role in their transport, they knew little of the actual attack plan but in every case, they were silent, attacking their targets with hand weapons or using silenced weapons. Their machine guns were only supposed to be used as an emergency measure. They had planned on a stealthy attack and clearly something had gone wrong.

The chatter of machine guns continued and there were several sharp explosions.

"Hand grenades?" Adam asked from nearby.

A silent command from Ismo sent four dragons skimming the tree tops northwards to take a look. Another set of four took off east to check the camp that held the Wizards. "Lakie, get the riders and the dragons assembled, we may be leaving here in a hurry," he ordered then he turned to Ingrid. "Go back and wait next to Masth sweetheart, I don't know what's going on but I do know this isn't what was planned."

"_Ismo, Gronth reports that the group of soldiers attacking the normal camp are in trouble. He says that the soldiers are caught between two groups,"_ Lakreth reported.

"And the other group?" asked Ismo.

"_Hebrath says that group is attacking the camp without any problems,"_ Lakreth said, then he paused and looked at a dragon up the line. _"Ismo, Lolth says his rider and the other magicals could use magic to erase memories?"_

Ismo blinked and then turned towards Lolth and waved to her rider. Hemel, Lolth's rider was one of the few wizards that Joensuu had. Joensuu was a smaller Weyr with three permanent divisions and one transitional division. The transitional division had been sent off to a jumpstart a new Weyr only a few months earlier leaving Joensuu with just three hundred riders and three hundred non-bonded dragons.

Being so small, the Weyr had just fifty five magical riders unlike Campbeltown who had nearly one hundred and eighty wizards.

Ismo waved for Adam to join him while they talked with Hemel. They had plans to make. The soldiers were friends and allies and they couldn't sit back and let them get slaughtered.

**Campbeltown Weyr, January 21st 2006...**

May typed happily at the computer in her office. She had pulled late night shift in the infirmary and was happy to use the free time to work on the latest version of her book of Dragon Medicine. This was a second edition, updated with new information on dragon anatomy and treatments for specific ailments.

Harry didn't like her working so late now that she was pregnant, but he knew she couldn't avoid taking the shift, it wouldn't be fair to the others. Harry still took his turn on the overhead patrols, usually choosing the most hated time slots, so he really couldn't complain about May taking a late night shift four nights a month.

She glanced up and looked through the glass window in her wall that allowed her to view most of the stalls. They were mostly empty now. Pith, an older non-bonded dragon from Svartvatn Weyr in Norway slept in stall six. He was laid up with a bad infection in his ear but he was responding well to a general anti-biotic and May hoped he'd be able to return to his own Weyr before the week was out.

Her only other patient, Rokth was reading from a wall screen. Rokth was a Campbeltown dragon who had ignored the Weyrling Master and listened to his brand new rider during training. Now Fred had a bad second degree burn on his face and Rokth had managed to burn away several scales on his neck. Both the rider and the dragon would recover, and eventually get over the very public and very loud ass chewing Harry had delivered but for now, both were consigned to the infirmary until May cleared them.

She leaned back from her keyboard and slid her chair out before standing and stretching. She could see Katie working at a desk out in the main ward. Katie was still struggling to learn the veterinary science side of dragon care but she was already an accomplished potions mistress.

May reached for her mug of tea when suddenly Trath screamed. _"May! Outside!"_

She dropped her mug which shattered with a sharp crash and bolted for the door. Katie was standing around looking alarmed, she too heard the alarm echoed to her by her own dragon.

May ran to the door and slapped the switch that opened the large hangar doors, then she wrenched the smaller door open and stepped outside into a light snowfall.

The outdoor flood lights came to life and Katie joined her a moment later.

A dragon appeared in the dark sky, the dragon's head was drooping oddly and the rider was doubled over and hanging slightly off to one side as if unconscious.

"Trath, alert the watch commander, I need Doctor Sheppard to come to the Infirmary immediately then wake the ready wing," she snapped.

"Here, land here!" Katie shouted to the injured dragon. Two more riders pushed a large cart loaded with supplies out of the infirmary. They were part of the four person late night shift, although one was only healer trainee.

Lights came on outside Hangar two. The doors to the hangar slowly started to open. The night watch wing leader had woken the ready wing and they were already forming up.

The dragon circled above them flapping furiously to maintain altitude. It was obvious that the dragon was having trouble maintaining flight with the way it's head was hanging down. May could hear the dragon moan painfully in the snow fall quieted night.

Chekiath appeared a moment later and positioned himself above the dragon. He reached with his huge paws and grasped the smaller dragon around her belly. The dragon moaned again and Chekiath crooned softly. The injured dragon realized that with Chekiath holding her, she didn't need to worry about maintaining any altitude. The dragon furled her wings. _"My rider,"_ she moaned again.

"Sheppard's coming," Katie said, pointing to car headlights in the distance. May nodded and waved Chekiath to bring in the injured dragon.

Chekiath brought himself to a near hover just inches above the ground and then gently lowered the injured dragon to the tarmac. Chekiath's huge wings billowed up clouds of loose snow and for a moment May couldn't see anything. The snow cleared a moment later when Katie cast a spell. Chekiath lifted higher and side slipped fifty meters to one side and landed.

"_This is Verath from Joensuu Weyr,"_ he announced. _"__Sh__e is injured in h__er__ neck and h__er__ rider is injured in h__er__ leg."_

Katie pulled her wand and quickly cleared off an area of snow then she scrambled up the side of the dragon and examined the woman rider; she quickly cast a spell on the rider's leg. "May, this is bad, we have a very bad leg injury here and she's bleeding heavily. I've cast a tourniquet charm on her leg, but she's lost a lot of blood."

May nodded. "Get her down and let Issac handle her. I need your help with Verath," May replied.

Katie nodded and understood. It wasn't that May didn't care about the rider, but she couldn't help the rider. Verath she could help. She quickly levitated the woman to the tarmac and cast a quick warming charm on her and the ground around her before turning to help May.

A car screeched to a halt and Issac stepped out wearing a robe over his pajamas. A moment later one of the Weyr security Land Rovers pulled up on the scene and a man started to climb out of the vehicle. Issac snapped out, "Get an ambulance here," to the security officer. The man nodded and climbed back into the vehicle to radio for help. The ambulance would come from the adjacent army base.

Meanwhile May was busy examining the dragon for injuries. "Verath?" she said softly. "Where does it hurt?"

"_My rider?"_

"She's being cared for. Right now it's time for us to take care of you. Now do you hurt anywhere besides your neck?"

"_No, but I can't move my neck. Something snapped and I can only turn in one direction now."_

Katie reappeared carrying a bucket of pain potion which she gave to Verath, then she looked at May expectantly.

"Can you walk if we lift your head Verath?" May asked. She knelt next to the dragon and examined the three bullet holes that pierced her neck. They were big holes, big enough for her to put her thumb through with room to spare. May was a little relieved to see the dragon wasn't bleeding heavily. A dragon's neck contained four major arteries and four major veins, any one of which could have caused the dragon to bleed to death in just a few minutes.

"_I think I can,"_ Verath replied shakily.

May gasped when Verath's head lifted just off the ground and hovered there. She turned to see Harry standing behind her, grimly staring at the injured dragon and holding out a hand. Harry was levitating the dragon's head and in the process, lifting Verath's neck off the ground. May frowned and sent a quick message to Hermione via Trath to make sure she helped him warm up when he returned home. He was wearing a light robe and slippers and she knew for a fact that he wore only some boxers under the robe.

"Verath, follow the Weyrleader's instructions, he'll help you move into bay one," she commanded. Right now, as far as Verath was concerned, she was in charge and could order everyone, including the Weyrleader around.

Harry's expression turned grim and he nodded to May. Bay one was reserved for only the most serious of injuries. It was a new addition to the infirmary and was in fact a small building that was accessible from inside the hangar. May had plans to add four more similar additions to the infirmary like this, but Bay one was the first and it was a prototype for the future bays.

As such Bay one contained a specially modified X-ray machine and it was the world's only dragon operating theater.

May glanced over to Issac who was supervising working on Verath's rider with the help of an army medic. An ambulance was already on the scene and it looked like they would soon be transporting their patient.

Harry walked backward into the infirmary and slowly pivoted around so that Verath could back into Bay one. Katie held the doors in place while the pair maneuvered into the room.

May glanced skyward one more time, then she turned and headed back into the building.

Inside Bay one, Harry gently lowered Verath's head to a cushioned floor. Two elves popped in to help move the dragon's body around while Katie pushed the large x-ray machine over to the dragon's neck.

Harry stepped back and watched silently.

May stepped into the room and nodded in satisfaction, Katie was already getting the x-ray machine in position and Alice Wagner was setting up a tray to take some blood for cross matching. Dragon blood came in two groups with three sub-types per group. Once May had graduated from university she had instituted the first Weyr blood bank. It was tiny compared to a human blood bank, containing only ten gallons of each type of blood. Considering that a full grown Hungarian Horntail had ninety three gallons of blood, the Weyr had just enough on hand to handle a simple emergency. Anything more disastrous and May would have resorted to live transfusions.

"Harry, get out. You've done as much as you can, now you're just in the way," May said absently while she watched Katie.

Harry blinked in surprise, then he smiled and gave May a slight bow. "Of course Weyrhealer," he said, then he turned to Verath. He placed a hand on Verath's head and whispered a quick prayer to the Goddess before he said, "Do not worry, I'll have someone keep an eye on your rider Verath. All you need to do is follow your Weyrhealer's orders."

"_Thank you Weyrleader,"_ Verath replied faintly.

Harry stepped from the room and May was about to turn back to her patient when Gustav Brigidson hurriedly entered. Gustav was panting heavily and his boots were mud spattered. He was Joensuu's Weyrhealer and until a few minutes ago, had been in the field with his Weyr.

"Get out and wash up!" May snapped at him. He glanced down and blanched, then he backed out of the room and an elf cleaned up the mud he had tracked in. May turned and walked into a small room where she could change into her scrubs. Suddenly her long quiet night had radically altered and she knew it was going to be a rough one.

She stepped from the room after changing and looked at a large wall monitor which was showing the results of the x-ray. The door to the bay opened and Gustav returned, this time in scrubs and wearing little booties over his feet. May nodded in approval, then she gestured towards the screen. "She was hit by three bullets. Look here, this one nicked a vertebrae and shattered into fragments. It must have torn up the muscles and tendons."

Gustav nodded grimly. "This is not going to be easy," he said uncomfortably.

She glanced at him. "Are you up to this? We're going to have to try to repair as much as we can."

Gustav shrugged. "We have to try. One for two," he murmured.

May nodded, understanding the sentiment exactly. 'One for two' was a phrase she coined several years back that was meant to remind the Weyrhealers that saving a dragon's life usually also saved the rider's life. Saving one life meant saving two lives when treating a bonded dragon.

"Alice will monitor her vitals," May said. "You'll assist me and Katie."

Gustav nodded grimly and they both turned to their patient.

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, January 21st 2006...**

Harry stared out the window without really registering what he was seeing. Chekiath watched him from his stall, but he wasn't concerned. He knew Harry was wrestling with a problem and once he solved it, things would be better again.

A pair of arms slipped around him and he felt Hermione pull him closer to her.

"Cheki says you're thinking deep thoughts. I thought that was my job," she said teasingly. "I brought you some clothes to change into."

He chuckled and gently turned in her arms, then he wrapped his arms around her. She sighed and reveled in the comfort of his arms. Being pregnant had invoked new emotions in her and lately she found herself feeling particularly vulnerable, being in Harry's arms made that all go away.

"What's bothering you?"

He squeezed her a little more tightly for a brief moment, then he released her and turned to the small pile of clothing and started to dress. Hermione glanced out the window while Harry dressed. In the distance she could see the flood lights lighting up the infirmary building. "May is dealing with a badly injured dragon," he said softly, then he gestured towards another building that had an air ambulance in front of it. The helicopter was waiting while Issac supervised the loading of the rider who had been badly injured. "I can't help feeling like I have been manipulated sweetheart. Without our help this raid would have been nearly impossible. And yet, I have to wonder, if Prime Minister Blair counted on our refusing to sit back and do nothing if things went wrong for the raiders."

Harry turned to Hermione again now fully dressed and his expression was very unhappy. "Have I been tricked into violating our own neutrality?"

He gestured again towards the infirmary. "It's obvious that Ismo and his Weyr got involved in a fire fight. Verath and her rider had been shot. That would not have happened had they confined themselves to just transporting the raiders like we agreed to. I want to be angry with Ismo, a dragon and rider are badly injured. If either dies, we'll lose the other. But on the other hand if something went wrong with the assault Ismo would have jumped in to save the soldiers he had been training with for the past few weeks. I would have to say I would have done the same..."

He paused and scratched at his chin. "I can't help wondering if people took advantage of our eagerness to help. Did I let them manipulate us?"

Hermione grimaced, if there was one thing Harry hated, it was people manipulating him. "I remember a time when the British asked us to attack a ship full of terrorists," she said softly and tried to suppress a shiver. That particular attack came within a few inches of killing her and her dragon when a terrorist's bullet passed within inches of her head. "You could of let the British navy take care of it, but you knew we had to make a stand. How is this any different love?"

She backed away from him and folded her arms. "These terrorists are working to hurt our efforts. They are working to hurt people. The British asked for our help, you've always said we help our friends, so what's changed?"

Harry sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly. He made to speak when Chekiath made a keening noise in his stall. Harry turned to his dragon in shock. "Verath?" he asked in a strangled tone.

Chekiath lifted his head and turned to look at his rider. _"__No. __Neb__e__roth __just jumped Between__, his rider died. Lakreth is coming here. Joensuu is returning home but there are more injured dragons getting ready to come here."_

Harry's head dropped for a moment and Hermione gasped. Normally dragons only mourned for their Weyrmates, but Neberoth and his rider Pytor were wing leaders. An important rider and dragon had been killed and Cheki would honor his passing in the only way he could.

Harry took a deep breath and then looked at Chekiath. "Alert the Watch commander to wake up all the infirmary personnel. Tell the ready wing to go to the Infirmary to lend a hand. May is busy so let the other Weyrhealers know if they need anything, to contact me."

"_Yes Harry."_

"I think I see now," Hermione said softly.

He looked up at her sharply. "No, you were right, I was second guessing myself. The Weyr needs to make a stand on issues that directly effect us. The people in those camps were working to hurt us and others. We cannot afford to passively watch the world. Perhaps I was a bit naive but we need to be involved and yes, we are going to take losses."

He smiled gently at her. "It was just a moment of self doubt," he said with a shrug.

"Ismo will be here soon, why don't you go help with the incoming dragons?" he told her.

Hermione nodded a bit unhappily. She knew Harry had to deal with some unpleasant aspects of being Weyrleader, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Harry took his seat while Hermione left the room. He fired up his computer and started writing down some thoughts concerning what had happened. It was only five minutes later when a pale faced and shaken Ismo and Adam entered the room.

Harry gestured to the two seat facing his desk. "Campbeltown grieves with Joensuu over the loss of Neberoth and Pytor Schneerson," He said formally.

Then his voice turned cold, he wasn't angry with the Joensuu leaders but he did want an explanation. "Now please explain to me how a simple ferry mission resulted in injuries and the loss of a dragon and rider."

Ismo and Adam exchanged stricken looks, the Ismo began to speak.

**Campbeltown Infirmary...**

May's nose crinkled behind her surgical mask. The smoke drifting off of the scale Gustav was cutting away made for a very unpleasant acrid smell. She watched carefully as Gustav cut away two more scales using a hand held electric saw, then he placed the saw on the tray table.

Gustav took each scale he had cut away and placed them into a container. The freed the scales would be put aside and would be later used to make an artificial scale over the affected area. Artificial scales were an invention that came out of Condron Weyr. The scales would be ground up and mixed with the same insulating material that was used on the American space shuttle, then it would be formed to fit over the original area and riveted to the surrounding scales.

Adult dragons did not regrow lost scales like immature dragons did. Condron's answer to the problem was a mechanical patch that worked almost as well as a real scale.

With the scales out of the way May stepped forward and used another saw with a much finer and smaller blade to open an incision right over the bullet hole. This was the third time tonight that were going for another bullet. Verath had been hit with armor piercing rounds from a large caliber gun which resulted in a deadly injury.

Small caliber ammunition lacked the fire power to penetrate the scales and usually resulted in shattering the bullet, and sometimes the scale. Someone could still get a lucky shot with a small caliber weapon, but generally the scales protected most of the dragon except for the eyes or a shot in the mouth.

"We got lucky Gus," May said softly as she put down the saw and picked up a spreader which she used to open the wound wide. "Hand me a clamp."

Gustav reached for the clamp and placed it in May's outstretched hand. "You call this lucky?" he said incredulously. Verath's injury was very serious and it would require months to heal and more months of therapy before she could return to duty.

"Well yeah, there are four main arteries and four veins in the neck and all three bullets missed them. This one bullet came closest to the aorta prima but still missed it. The only real damage came from that first bullet which nicked the twenty second neck vertebrae," May replied. "That one had me worried, but the bullet never went near the spinal column."

Dragon bones were incredibly tough. Verath had been hit in such a way that the bullet directly struck the vertebrae and it had resulted in shattering the bullet and only nicked the bone.

May didn't mention that repairing the torn ligament had taken nearly two hours of their time, and only time would show how much movement returned to Verath. The neck of a dragon was incredibly complex and still much wasn't understood. The ligament was only partially torn, had it been fully torn May's only option would be to try to copy what a human surgeon would have done for such an injury and pray it worked. It was a procedure no one had tried before and no one wanted to attempt unless absolutely necessary.

Depending upon the breed, an adult dragon's neck ranged from six to fourteen feet long. To ensure adequate blood flow there were four major arteries and four major veins that ran the length of the neck. There were also three major structures which ran the length of the neck, the fire breathing organ turned out to be the source of the dragon's heat and it was situated between the dragon's immense lungs. A tube that was coated in an insulating material that resembled cartilage ran the length of the neck right next to the airway and the esophagus. The insulating material protected the rest of the neck structures from the heat of the dragon's flame. A thick coating of saliva protected the dragon's mouth from the fire.

May clamped off two ends of a torn vein. With the local bleeding clamped off, the blood that had pooled quickly drained away thanks to a suction tube and now she could easily spot her prey. The bullet was intact and easily removed.

"Well I suppose when you look at it that way," Gustav replied dubiously.

May extracted the bullet and dropped it in a tray for both of them to examine. The first bullet they had removed was intact, and so was this one, but the second one had shattered into fragments that took nearly an hour to find and remove all the pieces.

"It looks intact, we got lucky again," she murmured.

Gustav nodded, "Indeed, may I repair and close up?"

May nodded and stepped away. She knew she needed to give Gustav this chance. All of the Weyrhealers needed surgical experience and so few had any because all of the really bad cases came to Campbeltown. It was now common practice to send a Weyrhealer to Campbeltown to help heal their dragon and give the healer the badly needed experience.

May watched Gustav with approval as he worked to connect the broken vein before repairing the rest of the wound. Five years ago this kind of operation wouldn't have been possible. There was a lot they still couldn't do, but every year that list got a little bit smaller. Just following Issac's advice of treating the injuries had resulted in hundreds of dragons being saved. At least half of the repair procedures were copies of human surgeries scaled up to dragon size.

"How are we doing Alice?" May called.

Alice was up by Verath's head, nearly eight feet away from where Gustav and May had been working.

"Verath is doing fine. Respiration is strong and steady, we have good O2 saturation at ninety two percent. Heart rate is one hundred beats per minute. I figure she'll remain unconscious for another hour before the anesthesia wears off," Alice replied.

May nodded, the heart beat was a little higher than normal but considering the circumstances well within acceptable limits. "Alright then, Gustav and you can finish up here, I had best check in with Katie and see how she's doing with the other injured."

Both healers nodded and grimaced behind their masks, they had forgotten about the other injured dragons they had received.

May walked from the room to check on the other dragons. It had been a very long night and she was certain it wasn't over yet. Verath would probably survive this night, but she was in for a long recovery. Her neck would have to be immobilized for at least two months then she'd need more months of physical therapy to regain her mobility.

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr...**

Ronan stepped into Harry's office and he looked up from his computer, then waved him in. "Ismo get settled alright?"

"Yeah, I put him into the guest quarters and a few minutes later Ingrid showed up and took over. He was still pretty shaken by last nights events. Adam returned home, he'll watch over the Weyr for the day," Ronan replied, then he sat comfortably in one of Harry's chairs. Ronan still wore a bandage on his hand, but he was steadily recovering. Issac had finally given him a date for his first trip Between since he injured his hand and Ronan was eagerly looking forward to it.

"Of course he is shaken, last night he lost a dragon and a rider, and has five more dragons down with injuries. As much as I'd like to be angry with him, I'm more angry at myself for not foreseeing this. Had we been there we would have done the same thing," Harry said hotly.

Ronan looked at him curiously. "What could we have done differently to prevent it?"

Harry's shoulder's slumped. "Prevent the deaths and injuries, probably nothing. But the Weyr created and executed a plan of attack in five minutes. Had we insisted that we train for such an event before hand, it might have gone better for us and our friends."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Harry, you wanted to see me?" Lord Mills asked.

"James, come on in please. I'd like to ask you something," Harry replied seriously. Ronan blinked in surprise, he had heard Harry talking about the government taking advantage of the dragons, but he didn't think Harry would actually confront anyone over it.

James smiled and took the seat next to Ronan. Harry glanced over to his monitor where May's email detailed the injuries to dragon and riders.

"James I find myself wondering whether or not Prime Minister Blair took advantage of the Weyr's willingness to help. Last night a simple ferry mission went very badly when Joensuu weyr came to the rescue of the multinational force. This morning I have a dragon and rider dead, another pair seriously injured and four other dragons with injuries ranging from serious to moderate. Fortunately none of them are life threatening."

"Harry," James said in surprise. "You know no plan survives the first encounter with the enemy. If you think you had it bad the multinational force had seventeen killed and another thirty eight wounded. And I've been told those numbers would have been much higher if Joensuu hadn't attacked that Ukrainian army unit from behind, and then erased their memories once they had been subdued. The clean up took a lot longer than anyone planned on, but they had to create a cover story on the fly."

James paused and looked intently at Harry. "We managed to kill over one hundred terrorists, and Carlos the Gerbil. Miss Upton I'm afraid managed to sneak away, but I have no doubt she'll turn up."

James leaned forward in his seat. "The PM told me personally," he said intently, "that the only thing that prevented the entire attack from being wiped out was the actions of the dragons."

Harry sighed and stood up, then he walked over to the window. "A dragon and his rider are dead, another pair are still in critical condition," he murmured, then he turned back to James. "I'm sorry James, but to be honest I had hoped that Prime Minister Blair had been counting on our willingness to go beyond the expected. I wanted someone else to blame, but I can't. The only real blame I can pin on anyone belongs on my own chest because I was the one to teach the riders to help our friends no matter the cost."

"Harry, that isn't true!" Ronan exclaimed. "If I had been in Ismo's shoes I would have done the same thing he did. So would you."

"I would have," Harry snapped. "Don't you see? That is the issue. We are so eager to help we leapt without considering the ramifications. We have to do better, I can't prevent more dragon deaths, but I'll be damned if I'll sit back and wait for them happen without trying to prevent them."

"Easy there lad," James said. "It was nothing more than a tragic set of circumstances that no one could have foreseen. I know that Tony Blair was very upset to hear that the mission took a bad turn. We lost a lot of good people last night but the mission was a success."

Harry nodded sourly. The multinational force had taken a large hit, in comparison, Joensuu had gotten off lucky.

"Joensuu saved the mission last night Harry. They overwhelmed that army unit, and then sent their wizards in wiping their memories. As far as the Ukrainians will know, their unit came upon the terrorists who were slaughtering each other and they finished off both camps. I don't want to say that killing Carlos justifies the deaths we had, but at least they didn't die in vain," James said. "Your dragon and rider didn't die in vain."

"You know that's true Harry," Ronan added.

"Yeah I know it's true, but if this kind of thing ever comes up again I'm going to insist that we plan, and train for the dragons getting more involved," Harry replied, then he gave James a weak grin. "Thank you James. I'm sorry if I might have offended you, but you have to admit it is a concern."

James nodded, he could easily see where Harry was coming from. He personally didn't believe the Prime Minister would have done that in this case.

"Yes I can see why you would think that Harry and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I believe you can trust Prime Minister Blair to never take advantage like that, but you can never tell about the next man to fill his shoes."

Harry nodded, he had already discovered that fact for himself. When the American Weyr was first started he had a very cooperative president, but when that Bush fellow got elected, it was a whole different game.

**The Special Committee for State Security, The Kremlin, February 2nd 2006...**

The defense minister stood in front of a Japanese made projection screen and faced the committee. "Conditions in Georgia are becoming worrisome my friends. There are rumors of Pro-Russian separatist movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and we have learned that the Georgian government is increasing surveillance of those provinces."

"Our sources inside the region are trying to find these Pro-Russian rebels so we can find out what they need. In the meantime the Georgians are making some highly provocative moves."

He paused and gestured and an aide advanced the display to a simple map of the region.

"The movement of police forces barely disguises the fact that these are highly armed police, dressed in Georgian army uniforms. Right now the situation is tense, but stable. As a precaution I have sent a light motor rifle division and two squadrons of aircraft to bolster our forces in the North Caucasus Military District should we need to intervene. I have ordered General Baranov to increase his training and to weed out any dead weight."

The defense minister waved to the aide who then shut off the projector and turned on the lights. "Diverting the resources is troublesome to our long range plans, but my intelligence analysts are saying that the region is quickly destabilizing. Some of them have gone on record as predicting we'll be forced to intervene in Georgia within two or three years," he concluded, then he took his seat.

President Putin looked down at the table for a moment and everyone assumed he was considering his options. In fact Danakov was sending him instructions.

"The Georgians are becoming too rebellious," he said finally. "Despite our attempts to sway them, they openly seek an alliance with Europe and NATO. We cannot allow NATO a foothold so close to our borders and strategic assets. I understand that diverting resources may delay our actions against the dragons, but this poses a greater immediate threat than the dragons. If NATO were to gain a foothold on our borders, it would disrupt the balance of power within our confederation."

Putin turned to the Defense Minister. "You will personally inform General Sukov of the forces being reallocated and why. Tell him that we are pushing the timetable back by at least two years. I'm sure the good general will be glad to know of the additional time in which to prepare."

The Defense minister nodded brusquely. "General Sukov has assembled a special unit to fight these beasts. They are training and working to come up with new tactics. Sukov will be grateful for the extra time."

Putin nodded and looked around. "Does anyone else have anything to add?"

Danakov raised his hand, he didn't want to report about the disaster in the Ukraine, but reports were already reaching parts of the government that he had little control over. Sooner or later they would be heard by the various ministers who would question why he hadn't reported it.

Danakov controlled Putin and through him, large pieces of the Russian government, but he didn't control it all and couldn't control everything without arousing suspicions that something was wrong with Putin.

"Mishka you have something to report?" asked Putin.

"Yes. As you are aware we set up two training camps for destabilizing the dragon efforts. One camp was made up of ideologically sound individuals who were being trained to incite unrest and strikes among the workers at several company sites in Europe.

"The second camp was training people that were no less motivated, but their motivations stemmed from their religious beliefs. These people were more prone to violence and less controlled than their counterparts in the other camp."

"Yes yes, you've explained this before," Putin said, letting a bit of impatience show.

Mishka's eyes narrowed, then he got back on the point. "Last month everyone in both camps was killed, wiped out to a man. The Ukrainians are claiming that one of their army units came upon the two groups who were in the middle of a battle to wipe each other out. The Ukrainians claim their army group jumped into the conflict and slaughtered everyone."

"What?!" exclaimed the Foreign Minister.

Danakov held up a hand and gave him a weak smile. "Rest easy, there was nothing in those camps that pointed towards us in any way. Even the weapons were weapons readily available on the black market. The loss of the two camps is regrettable, but training religious fanatics is always a risk. Look at what happened to us in Afghanistan no? I have no concern that our involvement will become known."

"Then what does concern you Mishka?" asked Putin.

Danakov leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "The reports aren't adding up. An inventory of bullets used by the Ukrainian army unit vs the number of bullets recovered doesn't match. They recovered far too many bullets even when you factor the bullets from the terrorists themselves. Then there were a small handful of bullets that were found to have markings consistent with being fired from an silenced weapon. Also there is a large clearing just off the road between the two camps which shows signs of having been recently used by trucks and perhaps aircraft and yet there was nothing to indicate any aircraft in the region. Even our radars reported nothing and we do have coverage over that area."

Putin leaned forward in his chair. "What do you think happened?"

"This has all the earmarks of a Spetsnaz operation," Danakov said.

"What!?" the defense minister exploded out of his seat and glared at Danakov.

"Forgive me Minister, but you didn't allow me to finish," Danakov said coldly. "The attack has all the earmarks of a Spetsnaz operation, but we are not the only country to have such forces. If I had to make a guess, I think that another country initiated an action against those two camps. The Ukrainians are covering it up because they don't want to admit to having had such an action happen right under their noses."

Several nodded knowingly in the room, the last thing a government wanted to do was to appear to be weak and unable to protect their own territory.

Danakov observed the others and refrained from smirking. _Fools,_ he thought. He had several of the Ukrainian army soldiers that had been involved in the incident kidnapped and tested. All of them had tested positive for having their memories altered by magic. Magic had been involved in the attack, but he wasn't about to share that information with his fellow ministers. They knew nothing about magic and he'd see them all killed rather than informing them of Russia's true master race.

"So some other nation attacked our camps? How does this affect our plans?" asked the Finance Minister.

Danakov glanced down at a slip of paper in front of them for a moment, then he glanced up. "The religious zealots were always a high risk part of the plan. Those fools were as likely as to blow themselves up in some meaningless gesture than to actually attack a target of value. The other camp of operatives had been more successful because they were concentrating on more 'political' methods. With the committee's permission I would propose to restart the effort using a more realistic ideology than religion."

Putin glanced around and saw no one was against Danakov's proposal. "Mishka, you may proceed with restarting the one camp," he stated like he was granting a huge favor. "But I want you to also make sure there is no way these camps can be tied back to us. If there are any loose ends, they need to be eliminated."

Danakov nodded and made a mental note to meet with Putin sometime soon to reinforce his controls on the man.

Putin looked around until he spotted the Finance minister. "What will this delay do to our economy?"

The Finance minister tugged nervously at his tie. "Well I will have to ask, but our original estimates were based on the idea that this issue would have been resolved by 2008. Now you're talking about not even starting until then. Our projects were showing that it would be 2010 before we experienced a ten percent loss of revenue. I think we'll be fine, but I must stress that a loss of fifteen percent of petroleum revenues would result serious disruptions in our economy. We can weather the increasing loss, but fifteen percent is where it will cause everything to topple like a house of cards."

He looked around the room, "Make no mistake, we are already starting to feel a pinch. Recently we were forced to delay paying a Japanese electronics manufacturer for a week. These are crucial components for our new aircraft and the company was very willing to accept a week delay, but that will not always be true. We no longer make everything here in Mother Russia. We rely on outside sources for many things and they expect to be paid on time."

"Your warning is acknowledged, Boris. Please have updated figures for our next meeting in a month," Putin said gravely, then he checked his watch. "Friends let us close for now. I have a press appointment in an hour which I cannot put off."

The men around the table packed up their papers and stood. They understood the dismissal and most suspected that Putin had unusual tastes that he often disguised as political appointments. Unfortunately no one had been able to catch him at it.

**Ronan's Office, DSL Design group building #1, February 10th 2006...**

Ronan ushered everyone from his office into the adjoining conference room. Alongside one wall was a one tenth scale model of the Dragon Egg. Next to the model was a similar sized sphere.

Ronan waited until everyone was settled, then he moved to the front of the room and turned to face them.

"Not too long ago I was tinkering with the Egg design when I suddenly realized that we had overlooked something so fundamental. I was stunned and totally dismayed because it had the potential to completely derail our plans," he said solemnly.

Harry looked alarmed and he glanced around the room. Everyone appeared to have the same expression. "What have we overlooked?" he asked tensely.

Ronan grinned and the tension eased a bit. "I found myself suddenly asking what would someone inside the egg experience when the dragons went Between? We know we can protect men from outer space, but what if Between was different somehow? It's already baffling the best minds this planet can throw at the problem. So what happens to someone in the egg when it goes Between? Will they experience the cold and blackness and lack of air? Or will they still be seated in their chair, breathing and observing the interior of the capsule?"

Harry shook his head. "I would think you would just be inside the capsule," he said slowly.

"No," Mildred objected, "we have nothing to base that assumption on Harry. I'm not saying you're wrong, but as Ronan has pointed out, we don't know."

Ronan rubbed his chin and looked a little sheepish. "Well Mildred is partially right. That's why I had us build a test capsule. We used what we had on hand that was scheduled to be installed into the Egg and put together a much smaller test capsule. This wasn't nearly as good as the egg design, but it was good enough for our experiment."

He pointed towards a large wall screen. "In a moment you will see the results of a test we ran."

Ronan picked up a remote controller and pressed a button. The screen flared to life and it was showing a split image. One half of the screen was an image aimed directly at a small window that appeared to be heavily reinforced.

The second half of the screen showed a small German Shepard puppy happily chewing on a bone in a plexiglas cage. The interior of the capsule seemed to be very cramped, it would not have been possible for someone to stand inside it without stooping.

"Hey! What are you doing to that puppy?" exclaimed Sirius. The puppy looked to be about four months old and it's presence tugged on Sirius' animagus form.

Ronan paused the playback and turned to Sirius. "Sirius, trust me, right now Tweenie is perfectly fine. When I decided we would do this test, I also decided that we'd test out the basic life support design as well. There is another video feed not shown here that displayed the instrumentation measuring temperatures, internal and external, O2 flow and CO2 absorption rates, battery drain and so on. Tweenie was safe the whole time."

Sirius nodded a bit unhappily and Mildred leaned forward in her seat. "Sirius, I'm not thrilled either to see a live passenger, but it had to happen sooner or later. NASA did the same thing with chimpanzees and the Russians used dogs."

Ronan turned back to the screen and pressed play again. "Garanoth is our 'engine' for this small scale test," he offered. "And I'll add that he wasn't too happy that I couldn't go with him which explains why he deviated slightly from our plan."

Ronan was still recovering from his injury and he knew Karen would kill him if he had gone on this test flight, and after that, Harry would put him painting the fence line for the next ten years. He had plans to be the pilot, but he needed more time before approaching Harry about that subject.

The timer on the video hit zero and through the view-port one could see the capsule being jerked into the air a bit unsteadily. Tweenie looked up and barked twice, but as the rocking motion settled down she returned to gnawing on her bone. Ronan paused the playback at that point. "Note the uneven lift off even with one dragon. One of my people wants to stabilize the capsule by adding several large gyroscopes. Work is already underway on modifying the basic capsule design to add the gyroscopes. Stabilizing the egg using the same method is likely but we're not sure we have the necessary power. Our people are looking into it and hopefully we'll have that resolved soon."

He hit play again and a half minute later the view port turned pitch black. "Note the window has gone pitch black, Between obviously, and Tweenie is still enjoying the bone Dobby got for her. Note that she's perfectly fine and the interior of the capsule is still in the same state as it was before it took off. Temperature, Oxygen and CO2 absorption all nominal. Battery drain is also within acceptable limits. At this point it's safe to say that a passenger inside the capsule will not experience the sensory deprivation of Between."

The blackness of Between was suddenly replaced with another kind of blackness. "We programmed the interior lighting to drop to a small fraction of it's normal intensity at this point so we could get a better view through the window."

The lighting dropped and stars became visible through the window. "Now for the final piece of proof," Ronan murmured. "Garanoth is making a second jump. Mind you, he was supposed to jump away from the planet and turn the capsule to face the Earth."

"_My way was better,"_ Garanoth announced proudly.

"Yes Gara I know," Ronan said sounding like this was an old argument. He motioned towards the monitor.

The blackness of Between returned and a few seconds later it vanished to reveal a gray cratered surface. "Yes that's the moon. We're not sure exactly how close Garanoth came, but I estimate we were within one hundred and fifty miles. One of my people came up with that estimate based on the size of the craters and what we know about the camera optics. It's not very accurate I'm afraid. But our next test capsule will have an outside camera feed and a radar altimeter to correctly judge the altitude." Ronan said, then he paused the playback.

Mildred gasped and shot to her feet. She hurriedly put on her glasses and walked up to the screen. "There is the Descartes Highlands where Apollo 16 landed and Mare Nectaris," she said reverently. She peered at the image for a long silent minute and she ran a hand across one lunar feature. Finally she turned to Ronan. "You jumped to the moon?"

Ronan gestured helplessly at the image behind her. "Either that or Garanoth is really good at faking stuff."

"_I would never!"_ Garanoth said in outrage.

Ronan winced. "I know Gar, I know you went there, I think we just surprised people."

"_Why would they be surprised, it was an easy jump,"_ Garanoth replied in puzzlement.

"Perhaps it is an easy jump," Harry said, "but none of us expected you to make that jump Garanoth. Thank you for showing us this."

"_You're welcome Weyrleader,"_ Garanoth replied, sounding pleased with himself.

Mildred returned to her seat and slumped into it. Alarmed Harry sat forward in his chair. "Mildred? Are you alright?"

She nodded, then shook her head as if she couldn't make up her mind. Everyone watched her closely.

"It's ironic," she said finally, "The lunar landings were what first sparked my interest in space and astronomy. I was just a young girl at the time, and here was the effort of a decade and billions of dollars just to send three men to the moon. The history and technological advancements that resulted from that effort still echo today."

She looked up at Ronan and gave him a weak smile. "And then you come along with your dragon and a few thousand dollars worth of parts and off the shelf hardware and go to the moon as if you were going to the corner supermarket."

Ronan blushed and looked down at his feet. Several around the room exchanged amused glances. "In all fairness Mildred, our attempt lasted less than five minutes," Ronan countered.

"Five minutes," Mildred repeated with a smile. "That is five minutes more than NASA is currently capable of doing Ronan. What you accomplished is nothing short of astounding."

"So to summarize then," Harry said softly, interrupting Ronan and Mildred. "Ronan has proved that someone can be protected from the environment of Between, and that dragons are capable of making very long jumps. It had been thought that Norendrath's jump to Earth had been a fluke, something caused by her extreme desire to suicide conflicting with her instinct to clutch. This casts doubt on that idea."

"Here to the moon in about than 2.6 seconds," Ronan added softly. "Garanoth first jumped into orbit, about 150 miles up, then he oriented on the moon and made his jump."

Ronan frowned, "Our timing system wasn't very good, so I can't say if it was any longer or not. We know it takes 2.6 seconds whether we're going to London, Tokyo or just jumping to Campbeltown village for some groceries. I'll have to come up with a more precise timer for our next test and we'll need to take some really precise measurements of terrestrial jumps."

Mildred turned to Harry. "I have mixed feelings about this. Ronan and Garanoth proved a number of concepts, but so many things could have gone wrong. There could have been a deadly solar flare, the jump could have disoriented Garanoth. We got lucky, but might not be so lucky next time," she said.

Harry nodded. "I agree to an extent, but I also believe at some point a risk had to be taken. Ronan knew full well what he was doing and more importantly what he was risking. I am not going to send him to mast over it when I have no doubt in my mind that Karen has already torn strips off his back over this."

Ronan nodded glumly, Karen had made her displeasure quite clear.

Harry looked over at Ronan. "Ronan, from here on you will consult with Mildred before you run any tests which involve going into space. I want you and Mildred to plan for things to go wrong and have some ideas of how to deal with them. Mildred I want you to make sure we're doing everything we can to do this safely. If you need something special let me know and we'll figure out how to get it."

Ronan nodded and Mildred sat back on her chair looking pleased. At least this way she could try to mitigate any space based threats by tapping into NASA's solar monitoring network.

Harry looked over at the model of the capsule and rubbed at his chin. His five o'clock shadow was three hours early today and it tended to make his face itch. "Ronan," he said slowly. "That capsule, could we make it larger, so it could carry people?"

"You want to give people rides in space?" quipped Sirius incredulously.

Harry shook his head. "No, not at all. I was thinking about DT&amp;T. They have accepted several contracts for hauling heavy equipment to hard to reach areas, but they aren't meeting their goals with the second part of their mandate. My other idea was if we could create some kind of dragon powered air ambulance. Passenger modules and ambulances would allow us to be more open at the factory with what we're making and still sneak in the odd space capsule or two."

DT&amp;T or Dragon Transport and Tourism was a relatively new company running as a subsidiary of DSL. The ferry service was doing rather well once people got over the shock of dragons airlifting tons of machinery, but the tourism part was falling flat on it's face. The riders never expected that people would be reluctant to climb up behind a rider and jump Between and then there was the problem of lifting a lot of people.

Ronan blinked and turned to look at the capsule. "A passenger module for terrestrial use?" he mused softly. "We can do that, and it would be easier to do since we don't have to worry about carrying an atmosphere with us. Unlike a passenger jet, any module we build wouldn't need to be at high altitudes. Just load the passengers and jump Between as soon as your airborne."

Ronan reached up and rubbed at his temple for a moment. "There are so many ways we could work this," he said.

"Ronan, talk to Karen and then talk to our riders. If we're going to do this we need to make sure we have every safety device the law mandates for airliners. I'm no engineer, but it seems to me that a passenger module is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Get a team together and let them have at it."

Ronan nodded eagerly, this was the kind of thing his people lived for.

Harry stood and glanced around. "It looks like we're done here unless someone has a question?"

"I do!"

Harry looked at Mildred and Sirius in surprise, then opted for the one who probably had a real question. "Mildred?"

Mildred rubbed her temple for a moment in thought, "This... this changes everything Harry. We had been thinking in terms of satellite launching, but if jumping to the moon really causes no measurable time increase, then jumping to further points is possible. There is a big market and a large number of players in the satellite launching business, but there's no one working anything further out. The technology is just too prohibitively expensive."

Ronan blinked in surprise, "Of course!"

"Ronan?" asked Harry.

"Mildred is right. There is a potential market in mining asteroids, or ferrying supplies to build a moon base, or hell, even Mars is possible. There's a lot of engineering to do, but we could own the market. No one would be capable of competing against a dragon based lift system for deep space projects."

"So we're going to ignore the satellite launching market?" pressed Remus. "From what I've read it's really lucrative."

Ronan looked at Mildred who shrugged. "I don't know," she said slowly. "I'm a scientist, not a business analyst. I do know there are a lot of people planning on entering that market in the coming years."

Harry rapped his knuckles on the conference table. "I will ask Karen to put together a team of our business people to see what the advantages and disadvantages are. I'm not a business man, but like Mildred pointed out, there is a crowded field for low Earth orbit. For now our plans continue unchanged. I also want us to explore passenger modules for DT&amp;T. I think the idea of an ambulance module would be even more attractive and easier to implement."

He looked around and waited as people made notes or typed into their computers, then he turned to Sirius. "Sirius? You had a question?"

Sirius looked at him with a very sad expression. "Can I have the puppy?" he asked with a slight whine.

Harry blinked in shock while the rest of the room broke up in laughter. He glanced over to Ronan who nodded, then he turned back to Sirius. "If you can get Katherine to agree, you can pick her up later."

Sirius hooted and jumped from his chair.

Harry shook his head at his godfather's antics but if there was one person to care for a puppy it would be a dog animagus.

**Sirius' &amp; Katherine's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, March 7th 2006...**

Katherine reached for the alarm quickly so she didn't wake her husband. It was just before five in the morning and she needed to get her morning run in before she reported to the base headquarters building.

She was now in charge of base security that included both the Weyr and the adjacent SAS base. It was a promotion of sorts even if she wasn't attached to the SAS regiment that occupied the base right next to the Weyr.

She sat up and turned in the bed. Still half asleep she placed her feet down on the cold hardwood floor and groped around blindly for her slippers. Her eyes flew open and she growled, literally, one of her feet was soaking wet!

Flipping a light on the nightstand on, she looked down to confirm her suspicions then she turned again in the bed and shoved Sirius out of the bed and onto the floor. She had stepped into yet another puddle left by Tweenie and she was sick of it!

Sirius fell to the floor with a meaty thump and a muffled "Oophf!"

"Sirius Black what have I told you about that dog?" she said angrily.

Sirius slowly poked his head over the edge of the bed and blinked at her. "She's not peeing on my side of the bed anymore," he protested.

"NO! She's peeing on my side now! I'm warning you Sirius, if you don't start potty training her properly I'll take Kirstin and we'll spend our nights in the Officer's quarters at the barracks! I agreed to take in the dog because you claimed you could train her!"

"But but."

"No, I mean it Sirius, train her to go outside," she said flatly, then she looked down at her wet foot in disgust. "I'm going to take a shower."

Sirius watched her go into the bathroom, then he reached for his wand and banished the mess. Tweenie stuck her head through the partly closed bedroom doorway and gave a small yip when she spotted Sirius. She bounded into the room and came to a halt in Sirius' lap.

Sirius looked at the puppy and shook his head. "Tweenie girl, you and I have got to have a heart to heart talk," he muttered.

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, March 15th 2006...**

Harry and Remus were talking in his office when a knock interrupted their conversation.

Janay stuck her head into the doorway. "Harry, Lord Mills is here," she said.

Harry nodded and smiled at his secretary. "Send him on in Janay."

Janay vanished and James entered a room a half minute later.

"James, just the man I need to talk to," Harry said.

James took a seat next to Remus and nodded in greeting, then he turned back to Harry. "How can I help you Harry?"

"You've no doubt seen the new construction going on just outside the fence. The building going to be a larger and much more capable factory that will be addressing several issues. DT&amp;T has been experiencing some difficulties because few people are willing to experience Between on dragon back. That got our design group thinking and they came up with some ideas that I admit are rather exciting. They are going to make two kinds of passenger modules."

James blinked at him. "Passenger modules?" he repeated as if he didn't understand.

"Yes, two types to start with. Our first idea was to build an air ambulance that was dragon powered. Even if the dragons were restricted to straight flight, they would still be faster than most traditional air ambulances. Think about it James, they'd be able to pop out at an accident scene, load up several patients and either go Between to the nearest Accidents and Emergencies, or straight fly there."

James slowly started to smile as the idea took hold. It was an intriguing use of dragon power.

"That sounds really good Harry, but how can I help?" asked James.

"Well I think we have ambulance idea down pat. Isaac is providing us with information about what a standard ambulance has as well as getting us in touch with the right people to set up a few tests. Its the second type of passenger module that I'm hoping you can tell us who to talk to. You see, we want to use the module for carrying tourists, but since the module never really flies we're not sure if we should talk to the aviation folks or some other department."

"Never flies?"

Remus laughed, "James, the dragons can go Between as soon as they leave the ground. So a passenger module that never gets more than a few feet off the ground can hardly be considered an aircraft."

"We've already proved that someone in a module doesn't experience the same thing as a rider on dragon back," added Harry helpfully.

James nodded, "So that was the purpose behind that thing that looked like an over-sized bathysphere I saw outside the design group's building last week?"

"Thats right, that's our test capsule. You'll probably see more like that in the coming years because this seems like just the tip of a very large iceberg. To be honest, this has us almost as excited as we were once we understood the value of hot rocks."

James paused and looked thoughtful, "But what about the ferry mission Joensuu carried out? I thought a lot of those soldiers were inside the containers with the vehicles?"

Harry looked at James and shrugged. "Those containers had unlit interiors and there was no attempt made to seal them from Between. Our modules will seal the passengers away from Between. Even if we could track down some of those soldiers, they really wouldn't have the answers we needed."

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yes I think I can see that. The ambulance sounds like a really great idea. I'll have to ask around about your tourist module idea, maybe someone at number ten might know who to talk to."

"Please do James, our own legal department is unsure of the laws. The module is not an aircraft in the traditional sense, and not a car or bus. Hermione claims it falls outside of most of the laws simply because nothing like this ever existed before," Harry replied.

James nodded, then something caught his attention through the office window and he turned. Harry and Remus looked out the window to see what James was looking at, they both started to chuckle. Sirius was outside, and was obviously trying to explain something to a puppy that didn't seem all that interested in what Sirius had to say.

Remus pulled his wand and cast a spell on the window, suddenly they could hear Sirius as if he were in the room with them.

"Come on Tweenie," Sirius cajoled, "You know you should go potty outside when we take a walk. Katherine doesn't like you making messes in her house and I really want to start sleeping with my wife again."

The puppy looked at Sirius and tilted her head to one side, then a nearby dragon bugled loudly and Tweenie started to prance around Sirius, yipping loudly.

"Oh this is too rich," Remus said with a laugh. "What did he say? 'Who else is better equipped to deal with a dog than a dog animagus?'"

Harry stood and walked over to the window and opened it. "Sirius Black, just why are you arguing with that puppy?" he shouted.

Sirius looked up from his spot and saw Harry leaning out the window grinning at him. He was certain he could hear Remus laughing in the back ground. He stood up straight and said, "I'm sorry Harry, but not being a dog animagus you just wouldn't understand the finer details of dog training."

Behind Harry Remus slid from his chair and howled with laughter. Sirius frowned at his friend's mockery.

"But Sirius," Harry replied mildly. "You're not a dog at the moment. Have you even tried showing Tweenie what needs to be done when you're in your Padfoot form?"

"Wait, Padfoot is potty trained?" asked James with a wide smile.

Remus broke out in laughter again and Sirius scowled at Harry and the others behind him, then he turned to Tweenie. "Come along Tweenie, let Padfoot show you how it's done," he said, then he turned into Padfoot. He grabbed the leash in his mouth and trotted away from the offensive window.

"Yeah, look Tweenie, this is how we hump everything in sight," Remus shouted.

That even set off Chekiath in his stall. Within seconds half the dragons in the Weyr were rumbling with amusement.

Harry shook his head in amusement, then shut the window. Sirius worked very hard for the Weyr and everyone appreciated what he did, but some days everyone wondered if he would ever grow up.

**Seattle Washington, USA, April 2006...**

Anna sat in a chair facing the front of the small cafe and watched the customers around her warily. She had been on the run since the attack and had only a small amount of cash on her, taken from the safe in the camp before she fled.

Her money was running out and she had taken to robbing various muggles for their cash to help her get by.

She didn't know what had happened, Carlos had been visiting the other camp when they were attacked and she assumed that he had gotten away. All she knew was that they were under attack and she had to flee.

Anna had been running ever since. She had met up with an acquaintance of hers who was now working in Stuttgart Germany and to her horror she discovered that someone was offering ten thousand galleons for her head.

She immediately fled Germany as if the very hounds of hell were on her heels. She knew her 'friend' couldn't be trusted to not turn her in, or try to claim the reward for herself.

Which is why she found herself sitting in a small cafe in Seattle. She had arrived in the city just two days earlier by way of Toronto Canada. She had never been to the Americas and figured that perhaps it was just the place for her to hole up. She still had her magic and the ability to cast a glamour on herself to change her appearance.

Nearby a pair of men watched her closely.

"You are sure this is the one? She doesn't look like our target." asked Marcus Acoperit.

The wizard pretending to be an FIS agent nodded. "Yes, she is the one. Her signature is unmistakable."

"More of that magic stuff?" Acoperit said.

"I have already explained this to you Marcus, she cannot hide from me," the man replied with a touch of impatience. The wizard wasn't especially powerful, but he was an expert aura reader and that was the one thing that no amount of glamour charms or polyjuice could hide.

Acoperit shrugged. "Very well," he replied, then he shouldered the high powered rifle and adjusted the scope.

"Slowly," he muttered to himself as he sighted in on his target. He didn't care for this at all. He had nothing against Anna, she was just another target as far as he was concerned. No what bothered him was the fact that he had been assigned a partner for this mission. A partner that came equipped with specially modified bullets that were supposed to vanish after killing their target.

The FIS man seemed especially concerned that they leave no evidence behind and Acoperit wondered if that also included him.

"Slowly," he repeated. He absently noted his 'partner' had moved closer to him which didn't bother him at all. He was prepared.

For Acoperit time seemed to stand still as he pulled the trigger, then he rolled away from the rifle while reaching for a small pistol. His partner already had his wand out and was tracking Acoperit. "Mgnovennaya smert," the Wizard snarled just as Marcus fired his weapon.

Both men were excellent shots, but Marcus had the disadvantage of being on the floor. The wizard's killing curse struck Marcus in the chest and his back arched violently, then he relaxed into death. The Russian version of the Avada Kedavra curse was no less effective than its UK counterpart.

The wizard had no time to rejoice at the success of his mission. Acoperit's bullet missed his head entirely and tore through his neck, severing both his spine and his aorta. The bulled pushed him back against the wall where he slid down to the floor. He blinked rapidly several times as his brain struggled to understand what was happening.

Acoperit might not have been a wizard capable of killing with a single spell, but he was a wizard with a gun and he invariably killed what he shot. This time was no different.

Down in the cafe a crowd was forming around a cooling corpse. Acoperit had drilled a hole right into her forehead. She had died instantly and never knew what hit her.

Unfortunately for Russia, they had left plenty of evidence for the American's to chew over. Two known Russian operatives involved in a hit on woman in an American city was sure to attract a lot of Federal attention. Especially since neither man had any papers suggesting they had entered the country legally.

**Condron Weyr Research and Testing Lab, Condron Weyr, May 16th 2006...**

The open topped jeep barreled along the old taxi way towards a new structure that Skip Taylor had put up after the Americans had been kicked out of the Weyr. Occasionally the jeep would be in the shadow of one of the three dragons over head that were lazily following the jeep across the Weyr.

They were heading towards the newest addition to the Weyr, designed by Ronan's design group with the help of the dragons and Gringotts.

Harry was pleased to note that the Weyr had a full wing on patrol overhead and another wing using a mix of Jeeps and riders on dragonback, patrolling the fence-line.

While a bit excessive as compared to Campbeltown, Harry wasn't about to fault Skip over how he handled security in his Weyr. In fact it was the heavy security that enabled Skip to build the Research and Testing lab right under the nose of everyone. It was a Weyr secret that only the Weyrleaders and a few top echelon weyr members and riders knew about.

The Research and Testing Lab, or RTL was strictly off limits to everyone except for riders and even then only those riders that had been authorized by Harry, Skip or Ronan. The building sat nearly a mile away from the main DSL facility where NASA employees worked hand in hand with the riders and scientists employed by the Weyr. Officially the RTL was a warehouse that contained just enough volatile chemicals to warrant it being isolated from the rest of the facility.

It was a cover that few had trouble with. The main research buildings were doing some substantial materials research requiring many dangerous chemicals and the RTL was where they stored all of the materials until they were needed.

Today Skip was showing Harry and Ronan the results of some of the research they had been carrying out. Ronan had finally been cleared for Between by Issac only a month earlier. His injury had slowed his ability to mount his dragon, but once he was on dragon back, he had lost none of his edge.

"I'm glad you were able to make it Ronan," Skip said over the sound of the wind. "I was hoping you would. It's only fair that you can see what we did with your original idea."

Skip released the steering wheel and pointed. "There it is, doesn't look like much does it?"

Harry tried to ignore Skip's hands free driving and concentrated on the building they were approaching. From the outside the building resembled a standard hangar, except that there were no aircraft doors. Harry knew that the looks were deceiving. The Weyr had pulled a fast one on everyone. The RTL was little more than a hollow shell which capped a sloping ramp that descended under the ground and deep into bed rock. They were still adding chambers and delving deeper. The true scope of the RTL complex was only really known to Skip and a team of dragons and goblins hired from Gringotts America.

"It's not supposed to look like much Skip," Harry replied.

Skip shot him a grin and slowed the jeep, pulling up to a door. Next to the people sized door was a dragon door that allowed entry for any of the dragons.

Skip gestured to the building. "Right now we're only using two chambers, but we have a total of four chambers each roughly one hundred meters long by fifty meters wide and ten meters high. Thanks to the Goblins, fresh air is circulated via magic, so we didn't need to install exhaust and intake ventilation ducts at the surface."

"But why would you need such an extensive structure?" Ronan asked. "I originally just wanted a place where we could try out ideas away from prying eyes."

Harry turned to Ronan. "Away from prying eyes Ronan, your idea made sense and it fell in line with another project we had going. Skip helped shape our tactics when dealing with modern fighter jets and he wanted to expand upon that. You remember the report he wrote about the air forces and how we'd need to adjust that jumping technique to keep up with a high speed jet?"

Ronan nodded in confusion.

"Skip wanted to look into other aspects of the various military forces in the world and I agreed. We have a technique for dealing with planes. Its good, but it's not good enough. We got lucky in Saudi Arabia, but we never once landed. A dragon on the ground is at risk and you can't beat a nation by air power alone."

"I hope we never have to face that again," Ronan said darkly.

"I agree," Harry replied mildly, "but let's be realistic. The Saudis were threatened by what the dragons represent. They won't be the last nation to feel that way."

Ronan turned to stare at Harry. "Is this a precaution or are you really expecting some nation to pull another Saudi?"

Skip opened the door for the two men and paused, holding it open. Harry pushed his hair back and he looked intently back at Ronan. "What I hope for and what I believe will happen are two different things. I don't want us to have to fight anyone, but look at our record. So far we've had to threaten one country that we thought was our friend, and fight another that that we knew was hostile to us. How many other countries do we know are hostile to us? What are we going to do when North Korea kills a dragon? Or Russia finally decides to move openly against Joensuu?"

Ronan nodded unhappily, he knew Harry wasn't expecting an answer, there were a number of countries that had come out against dragon-kind, and some of them were quite powerful.

"So better to be safe than sorry. I guess I can understand that."

"Safe," Skip echoed. "That's what we're doing here, experimenting now and hoping that we'll never have to use anything we learn here."

Harry turned and entered the building with both men in tow. Once inside Ronan blinked in the harsh glare of the overhead halogen lamps.

"We actually do use a large part of the building to store stuff," Skip said, then he pointed to several rows of shelves filling one half of the building. "You'll note that the shelves all face the doors. RTL is on the other side of the shelves. This way, even if someone did leave one of the doors open, or worse, the loading bay, all they would see is the interior of a warehouse. All of the riders who work in the warehouse know about the RTL and have been told it's a Weyr secret."

Skip led them around the rows of shelves into an area of reduced lighting. He stopped by a raised panel and grinned at Harry and Ronan. Both looked around in confusion, then Skip fished a slip of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. "My wife thought it would be safer if we hid the entrance under a fidelius charm. The underground complex is too large to hide, but the entrance is just right and without the secret, you could stand on the entrance and never know it was there."

The entrance appeared as soon as they had read the paper.

Skip led them down the ramp and into a huge chamber where a Chinese Fireball dragon was shooting fireballs at a steel plate.

The dragon stopped and turned to acknowledge his Weyrleader when he spotted Harry and Ronan. _"Weyrleader,"_ exclaimed the fireball, _"I did not know you were bringing important guests."_

Harry stepped forward and smiled, "It's all right Smath, what were you doing?"

Ronan and Skip exchanged amused looks. Harry knew every dragon, and generally knew every rider by name, but was notorious for forgetting important dates. It was a source of amusement among the Weyr leaders that without his wives and Janay, his personal secretary, he would be totally lost.

Smath looked over at Skip, _"I'm making holes, but Skip can tell you better why, I'm not so sure I understand it."_

The three men laughed and Harry turned to Skip for an explanation. Ronan suppressed a smirk. Whenever Harry visited a Weyr, that Weyr's Weyrleader was suddenly called by his first name while Harry was always The Weyrleader.

"You know about the softening/melting point issue?" Skip asked.

Harry nodded, "Yes, the dragons need to make sure their fire is below the softening point when using their everglow fire. Otherwise the object will begin to lose its shape, and they don't want to go beyond the melting point or they will end up with a lava puddle."

The Weyr had learned from experience that when a dragon wanted to create something like a hot rock, they needed precise control over their fire or they would create a puddle of everglowing mess. The Weyrs had started calling such a mess a lava puddle for lack of any better name.

Two factors came into play in creating a usable hot rock for energy production, the dragon had to want to create an everglow rock, and the dragon had to control the temperature precisely. Since dragons had no concept of human temperature scales, each dragon had to be shown the precise temperature while carefully controlling the desire to turn the item into an everglow. Millicent Bulstrode believed that the desire to make an everglow item was a function of the dragon's innate magic. Without that desire the object never retained the heat.

After Campbeltown had created the first couple of lava puddles, it became a priority to find a way to extinguish them. One of Sir Robert's final contributions to the Weyr before retiring was exactly that, he discovered a way of putting out an everglow object or a lava puddle.

The Weyr term 'everglow' was a bit of a misnomer because a hot rock could be extinguished by smothering the rock in a supercooled bath of liquid nitrogen for three days. It turned out that the exact time required to extinguish a lava puddle or everglow object was easily calculable using arithmancy. It was Millicent Bulstrode who calculated the required time to the astonishment of Sir Robert. He had never suspected that it would be possible to apply magical mathematics to real science.

The super cold liquid would cool the puddle and since nitrogen was inert, it wouldn't flash to fire like oxygen would. In fact less than a week after Saudi Arabia surrendered to the Weyr, Harry gave them the information they needed to extinguish the lava puddle the Weyr had made in their runway. It took Saudi Arabia four months to buy up enough liquid nitrogen before they could attempt to put out the lava puddle. They would still need to tear the old runway up and build a new one, but they no longer had the largest open heat source on the planet.

Without a smothering bath of supercooled gas, an everglow item, such as a hot rock would produce heat for years to come.

The trick in making hot rocks was to keep the dragon fire to a temperature below the point where the rock would begin to soften and deform; the dragons turned out to be adept at controlling the temperature and intent of their flames.

In the case of the softening/melting issue brought up by Skip, they had learned that if you turned part of something into everglow, it would spread, but only by a precise amount equaling to half the original diameter of initial everglow blast. That meant that a Chinese fireball hitting a large steel plate with a one foot diameter fireball would initially create a round one foot wide everglow area that would ultimately spread to a foot and a half diameter.

Skip thought this had potential if it came down to a point where the Weyrs were forced into combat with modern machinery.

"Thats right, but for our purposes it gives us an ability to defend ourselves," Skip replied. "After my initial report about air combat you told me to go ahead and look into developing other tactics. I even visited Kenya to view those tanks you slagged."

Harry nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"We have an ability to hurt an opponent greatly, but only with the proper training. Our Fireballs and Vipertooths have the finest control over their fire, but they also have the shortest range. Since you've always stressed taking action that led to the least amount of deaths I let that idea guide our research here," Skip said, then he paused and looked pointedly at Harry.

"It is easier to negotiate with someone if they aren't incensed with rage over the loss of life," Harry said softly. "Its not something we can always guarantee but it is something I think we should strive for."

Ronan nodded and Skip looked relieved. "Thank you Harry, it would be easy for us to kill a battalion of tanks with dragons, but we'd also wipe out the crews doing so. I realize this way puts us at a greater risk..."

"Skip," Harry interrupted. "any conflict is a risk. Your job is to help us be ready if that happens. My job is to try to see that it never does happen in the first place. I am too much of a realist however to think it'll be smooth sailing. Saudi Arabia burned away what little naivety I had left."

Skip nodded, "Well just so you understand, tanks are just one of the weapons we'd face. The US for example uses tanks in conjunction with helicopters to dominate the battlefield. I can't see anyway of disabling a helicopter in flight short of flaming it from the sky."

Harry grunted in agreement, it was an issue they he had already realized. The principle threat facing the dragons came from the air, helicopters, planes and missiles.

"I wish we didn't have to do this," Harry said with a sad sigh, "but I've read enough history to know that if we aren't prepared things can get messy really quick. So tell us why you have Smath punching holes in steel plates."

Skip chuckled, "Well it is more than that. The steel is typical naval grade steel used for hull and deck plating on all but the largest capital ships. We've been trying to determine what would have the most impact, slagging the steel or turning it everglow."

Ronan frowned. "Everglow? On a ship you'd never be able to put it out if the ship sank."

Skip nodded, "Yes we realized that early on. A fireball can make a pass alongside a ship and place four two foot diameter holes in the hull using just regular fire. The problem is that the fireball would be exposed to any close in anti-air weapons the ship might possess."

"So expand the idea of a wing man a little further. Have a couple dragons jump Between to just over any gun emplacements and take them out before the fireball make it's pass," Ronan offered.

"That might work," Harry said softly, "but..."

"_Harry, we need you,"_ Trath announced suddenly.

A second later his phone started to ring. He reached for his phone. "May? What is the problem?"

"Harry, Hermione's gone into labor. If you want to remain on speaking terms with her I'd suggest you get back here as soon as possible," May said tensely. "We're waiting for Issac and then we're off to hospital."

Harry's jaw tightened, Hermione wasn't officially due until next week, but Issac had repeatedly warned that the due date was an estimate. He had already put this trip off three times because Hermione hadn't wanted him to leave the Weyr so close to her due date. "It will take me a few minutes to clear the RTL, but I'll be airborne once I do. If I miss you leaving, I'll meet you at hospital."

Harry snapped the phone closed and turned to the others with a grin. "Sorry to cut this visit short Skip, but Hermione's gone into labor."

Ronan whooped and clasped his good hand on Harry's shoulder. "Are you good to give a jump image? Remember how Lee was."

Harry laughed, Lee had been a total mental wreck when his daughter had been born.

"I'm fine for this, but ask me later after the baby is born and I might have a different answer."

Harry turned to Cheki, "I think we better get home Cheki."

"_You really don't want Hermione angry with you. And just think, May will be hatching her own young in another month."_

Harry grimaced, that was a reminder he didn't need. May was pregnant and the doctors had placed her anywhere from a month to a month and a half behind Hermione.

"Go on Harry, I'm sure I can explain to Ronan what kinds of ideas we've been tossing around."

Harry nodded and motioned for Cheki to follow him out of the room and up the ramp to the surface.

Both men watched Harry and dragon trotting away before turning back to business. Ronan turned to Skip, "So how close are you to working up the drills we'll need?"

Skip grinned. "Kat's printing out several copies of them now for you to take with you, plus she's sending out emails to the Weyrs to include the new drills in our regular in-flight flame training."

"I thought that was the case," Ronan replied with a grin. "Now how goes the foundry construction?"

"Come on, it's on a lower level but I think we'll be ready to start turning out the steel stock you'll need. We had to look hard for the people we needed to teach us, but it was worth the investment if you ask me. Now we'll be able to turn out the stock metals you'll need for any project, and we have retained several people as consultants in case we run across something special."

Ronan chuckled, "Its a good thing we don't have the weight limitations that NASA and the ESA have. The alloys they are forced to use cost a fortune."

"_Your welcome,"_ Garanoth said suddenly, _"I knew you were complimenting we dragons __in a round about way__, so I accept for my kind."_

Both Skip and Ronan shared a look then burst into laughter.

* * *

**Author's Notes and Mockeries...**

* Some people jumped the gun complaining that Harry shouldn't have agreed to help fight that terrorist camp. Well this is what happens when you leap without all of the facts. Hopefully you'll understand now why they agreed. In the meantime we're all laughing at you.

* op1292 left a review complaining about Harry not using magic. After a brief discussion where I tried to explain that I had plotted the story so that magic took a backseat to the dragons, he was kind enough to start swearing at me. I have a policy, I don't feed trolls, so I blocked him from reviewing or even contacting me. If you disagree with something I have done and resort to verbal violence I'll block you. So don't be like op1292, converse in an adult manner and always understand that your vision of how a story goes only matters when you're the one writing the story.

* RedCOE just joins us with a review from chapter 1 of this tale asking if I'll bring Fire Lizards into the story line. For those that do not know, Fire Lizards are miniature dragons that were found on Pern and genetically altered to eventually give us dragons. They had a lot of the dragon's abilities, except for the intelligence and the time traveling. RedCOE, no fire lizards were brought to Earth, so the chances of finding any are zero.

* I find it amusing that people seem to think that Harry sporting a touch of gray hair at his temples is next to impossible. Its not uncommon to find that stress can result in hair color changes. That doesn't mean Harry is ill like some suggested. He's got a touch of gray, he's not going bald, or going to turn into a white haired old man. Hell I had a salt and pepper mustache before I was 30, it happens.

* abc1507, the magical contract will only affect the signatories, including the muggles who will NOT know about the simple compulsion laid into the treaty. It's just a single compulsion that makes anyone signing the treaty reluctant to share the location of the Weyr. It will be signed by Lobsang, who being a wizard and knowing about the compulsion would have no problem overcoming it. The muggles that sign it won't be harmed by it, they just won't see the need to reveal the Weyrs location to anyone.

* Patrick Nakasone, that tip of the iceberg becomes a lot more apparent to the Weyr in this chapter.

* Finally a special note:

Thanks in part to real life crap I have not had as much time as I would have liked to continue writing this story. We are catching up to what I have written and I'm going to have to extend out the publication cycle after this chapter. I am not abandoning this story, there aren't many more chapters to go and they are plotted out. I just need more time to write and less time dealing with the nightmare that has become my father's estate.


	15. Chapter 15-18

**This chapter is the LAST chapters written by me, Bobmin. I am posting them here since not everyone can read them from my Yahoo group. If you wish to know why these are the last chapters and why no more will be written you can see my profile for details. **

**Perhaps someday I'll be able to get back to finishing this, but right now I have more important matters to deal with.**

* * *

**Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow Scotland...**

Harry arrived in Glasgow barely fifteen minutes behind Hermione. He had returned to Campbeltown to find the Weyr in a flurry of excitement. It took Harry a full ten minutes to figure out that Hermione had already left for the hospital, most of that time spent trying to find someone that knew where his wife was. Most everyone involved had already left for the hospital.

While he wasn't as flustered as Lee was when his wife gave birth, he was justifiably excited as he climbed back onto his dragon and leapt skyward. Behind him, his Weyr buzzed with excitement as dragon and rider alike waited to hear about the birth of the Weyrleader's first child.

Chekiath popped out of Between and started spiraling down to an area that had been created with dragon riders in mind. From his vantage point he could see Momnarth, Norendrath and Bronth sitting quietly. The dragon landing pad was directly across the street from the hospital's helicopter pad.

Harry slid down from his position on Chekiath and froze. The sound flapping wings and then a low threatening growl was unmistakable. Chekiath moved to position himself in front of Harry. He could barely make out Comaloth over the bulk of his dragon. Comaloth was reacting to the pain, fear and anxiety she was feeling from Hermione's labor. Her eyes were brightly glowing an angry red.

"_Be silent,"_ Chekiath commanded sharply. _"You were told this would happen and you told me you understood and could control yourself."_

Comaloth took a step backwards as Chekiath reared up on his hind legs and his eyes flashed a solid red, challenging her. Comaloth was among the largest dragons on the planet and still Chekiath out massed her by nearly a third.

"_But my rider is in pain!"_ protested Comaloth and she took another step backwards, _"And he caused it!"_

"_It is the way of the female humans, the healers will take care of her. You also know that your rider wouldn't like you hurting her mate,"_ Chekiath retorted. _"Go! Sit with Bronth and the others and be quiet."_

Comaloth whined and puffed smoke from her nostrils angrily. Chekiath reared up again and made a barking sound that had Comaloth flinching backwards. Chekiath glared at her as she lowered her head and turned towards Bronth. The elder dragon watched the byplay with interest, he had long felt Chekiath allowed his consorts too many liberties.

Harry watched the interplay between the two dragons with carefully, it was unusual for Chekiath to assert himself so forcefully with one of his consorts. Comaloth was clearly reacting to her rider's distress and that made her a temporary danger, to herself and to others.

Thus far nearly every female rider that had given birth had a dragon that was most upset during the labor period. It was the primary reason why every pregnant rider came to Glasgow and why there was a trio of high ranking dragons on hand to help control the rider's dragon. Glasgow had experience in treating dragon riders, and they knew that helping manage the rider's pain was crucial to keeping their dragon calm.

Chekiath wasn't normally shy about making his authority known. He did however take a much milder approach to his two consorts, a milder approach that had Hermione and May both believing was the direct result of Harry's influence. Cheki had controlled several female dragons whose riders were in labor and he wasn't about to allow his own consorts to run amuck. That would be an insult to his honor as the Weyrleader's dragon.

Chekiath turned to look at Trath who looked back at him directly. She had landed just behind Comaloth and had watched her bondmates intently. _"What? My rider isn't in pain. I have no problem with The Weyrleader."_

May was absent, being too close to her own delivery, she was being driven to the hospital by car. She had told Trath to go ahead so she could be kept informed. No pregnant rider in their final trimester was allowed to go Between.

Chekiath looked at her for a moment longer, then he commanded, _"Go sit with your sister consort and keep her calm. Watch her and learn from this, your own rider's time is coming."_

Trath lowered her head and to Harry's surprise, meekly walked over to where Comaloth sat in an agitated state. Chekiath turned back to Harry. _"Go be with Hermione, I will stay here and ensure all is well."_

Harry shook his head in amusement, then he turned and trotted up to the entrance of the building. He met Sirius just inside the door. The older man grinned wildly at him and pointed towards the lift. "She's on the fourth floor. Issac slipped a suppressor on her so that she'll avoid any accidental magic. Madam Pomfrey is with Issac and she's still unhappy that she couldn't handle this delivery. Issac explained that as the Weyrleader's wife it was expected that Hermione would attend the Royal Infirmary here in Glasgow."

Harry nodded and jabbed at the lift call button. Sirius arched an eyebrow, unlike his father, Harry appeared to be calm and cool, only his repeated attacks on the lift button gave any indication of the nervousness he was feeling.

Less than three minutes later he was out of the lift and hurriedly putting on a surgical gown before entering the room. He absently noted that both Issac and Madam Pomfrey were present, but both were standing off to one side while the hospital's obstetrics resident was helping Hermione. He rushed to her side and she looked at him expectantly. "You're late," she said flatly.

Harry looked down, "I'm sorry, you know I had to visit Condron Weyr today. I had been putting it off all week because you said the baby was due any day."

"And I was right," Hermione said, then she started puffing heavily. Harry moved up by her head and wiped at her sweaty forehead with a handy cloth. He slid into a position at the top of the bed and wrapped one arm around her, then he gave her a quick kiss on her cheek which made her smile despite her discomfort.

"Can we finally get going?" asked the resident. "She's been fully dilated since she arrived."

Harry looked up from wiping Hermione's forehead. "Oh yes, you can start anytime you like," he said, not quite understanding exactly what he was saying.

Issac coughed to cover a laugh and Madam Pomfrey chuckled. Hermione looked up at her husband and glared for a moment, then another contraction hit and she pushed hard.

Officially Issac and Poppy were listed as Weyr medical personnel and only here to observe. The hospital staff weren't happy with that, but Issac had been present several times for other births and had never interfered. The hospital understood that this particular case involved some very high profile people and had accepted the inclusion of Madam Pomfrey without much grumbling. Officially both were observers from the Weyr, unofficially they were there to help if any accidental magic occurred.

Two long and tiring hours later, Daniel James Potter was born into the world with a loud cry and inexplicably, a power fluctuation that nearly shut down the entire ward. Harry and Hermione shared a proud look and Issac moved over to watch as the baby was cleaned up and weighed. He covertly cast a low powered spell that would dampen any accidental magic caused by little Daniel for the next few days.

After cleaning the infant, the nurse expertly wrapped the babe and handed him to Harry, then she gently pushed him towards Hermione with an expectant look. He looked down at the baby in his arms, then over to Hermione and realized what the nurse was trying to do. He grinned sheepishly as he walked over to the bed and gently laid the baby on her chest. Instinctively her hands came up to hold her baby. "Like everything you do, our son is perfect," Harry said with a bit of awe. He bent over and kissed her forehead, "Thank you," he whispered to her.

"_Our hatchling,"_ Chekiath's thoughts echoed through the room. _"Welcome and happy birthday little Daniel. We have been eagerly waiting to meet you."_

Hermione's eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled up at Harry. "Our son," she repeated tiredly.

The room seemed to still as everyone heard thousands of voices softly murmuring a welcome to the Weyrleader's first son. Harry grinned at Hermione and little Daniel opened his eyes for a brief moment and yawned. Apparently he wasn't impressed by the welcome of so many dragons.

"What was that?" exclaimed one nurse. Chekiath had made several comments during the delivery, but that was nothing compared to the sound of thousands of dragons welcoming the birth of the Weyrleader's son.

Hermione looked up from admiring her baby. "He is The Weyrleader's son. Every dragon on the planet has been waiting for him to arrive. I expect the same thing will happen again when May has her baby," she said. It was impossible to miss the pride in her voice.

Only those that knew the couple knew that Hermione's pride stemmed from her personal relationship with Harry and not because of his title or station. As far as she was concerned, her baby was perfect, like a perfect report she had spent ninth months writing.

None of the hospital staff that were present were surprised by Hermione's comment about May. May and Hermione had both come to the hospital during their pregnancies for testing. May was just shy of a month and a half behind Hermione in her due date. So the three of them had attended child birth classes at the hospitable and occasionally had been caught by local photographers.

It was common knowledge now that the Weyr didn't always practice monogamy and in Harry's case he was involved with both women. Photos of the two women appeared in several periodicals around the country. Harry was privately tickled pink when both women were listed as some of the most beautiful and influential women in the UK. Privately he thought his wives were the sexiest women on the planet.

The laws concerning marriage were still unchanged, but Parliament was now considering a change to existing laws that would apply only to dragon riders. The marriage issue only existed in those western countries that had Weyrs. Elsewhere, like Maziang and Sakushima Weyrs, conditions were much more relaxed. For now Campbeltown continued as it always had, quietly ignoring the legalities with the tacit approval from the PM's office.

Harry noted that the nurses were just about finished with Hermione. "I will be right back, your parents are outside waiting on the news. It looks like you'll be ready to receive visitors soon."

"Yes, five more minutes," the nurse said, looking up from her task. "I'll come out and let you know when she's ready to receive visitors."

Isaac took several photos of Hermione and Daniel, then he handed the digital camera to Harry who would give it to Lee.

Harry nodded and bent over the bed to gently kiss his son and his wife, then he straightened up and walked from the room towards a crowded waiting room filled with family and government officials. As much as he'd like to keep this private, he knew a great many important people were very interested hearing about his son. Lord Mills was present with Hermione's parents and Sirius and Remus, but for once he was acting as Her Majesty's personal envoy.

Harry knew that Lord Mills would be personally passing the news to Her Majesty and the Prime Minister.

Lee and Mariah were also present, awaiting to hear the news, then they would descend to the first floor where Mariah would formally announce Daniel's birth to the waiting press.

* * *

**Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown Weyr, June 1st 2006...**

Harry nodded amiably to Janay who was nervously setting up the tape recorders that she would use to record the session. Normally Hermione acted as official Weyr secretary for Weyrleader meetings, but she was still on maternity leave. Hermione normally would have been here for this meeting, but Isaac has insisted that every woman who had a child take a minimum two month maternity leave.

Isaac had followed up that order with a second one grounding any woman that had given birth from going Between for at least sixty days. There had been a single case of a young mother going Between a month after giving birth and then coming down with a massive infection that nearly killed her. Since then Isaac ordered a sixty day Between ban on all new mothers until they understood exactly what was involved.

The enforced leave frustrated Hermione, but Harry refused to override Isaac on any medical issue, let alone this one. Harry even used the excuse to take a few days off for himself so he could get to know his new son, and help Hermione adjust to the changes in their lives. May helped as much as she could, but she was in the final stage of her own pregnancy and anxiously waiting for the birth of her baby.

Dobby and the other elves were ecstatic to have the chance to help with little Daniel, so much so that Harry nearly had to order them to stop fighting over who would help care for the infant.

This was the first Weyrleader meeting since the birth of his son and Hermione had been banished to their house after she instructed Janay on how to take the notes and remind Harry of the agenda.

Unlike Hermione, Janay wasn't a witch and was unable to use a dicta-quill like Hermione did. Janay smiled timidly at Harry, then positioned herself at the table. She was as ready as she ever would be. The tape recorders she was using would have to suffice.

Harry stood up at the table where the senior Weyrleaders would sit. There was room for just four Weyrleaders and a seat for Harry. The four were selected by popular election from the others, but mostly the election had gone the way Harry expected it to go. Lobsang of Maziang and Skip Taylor of Condron each took a seat along with Ismo Sippola from Joensuu Weyr. The only surprise on the panel was Serge Fuentes from a newer Weyr; Caserío Puerto Limon, which replaced the old Weyr at Corales Isla Fuerte; that island had been too small to support a manned Weyr.

The panel held no authority over the other Weyrleaders, but were tasked with ensuring the decisions of the meetings were carried out. In theory that's what Harry wanted. What he got was nearly what he wanted except that as far as the dragons were concerned, he was The Weyrleader and they weren't about to let anybody override that fact.

The room filled up and the noise level increased as people mingled. There were thirteen manned Weyrs, and each Weyrleader brought their division leaders and in some cases, wing leaders with them. Nearly sixty people in all just from the Weyr leadership, then another twenty riders representing various Weyr research and commercial groups.

Harry turned to Ronan who stood beside him. "Look at this," he muttered. "Do you remember when we were barely forty people?"

Ronan shook his head. He had recently stepped down as division leader due in part to his injury and was now permanently attached to the Engineering division of Dragon Services. Ronan was still an active member of Wing One, Division Two, but no longer held the role of Divisional leader. "I remember when you were the only rider and Chekiath seemed unbelievably huge."

Harry laughed softly, "The big lug still is," he replied.

"_I have to be, I am your dragon. I have to be the biggest,"_ Chekiath interjected smugly.

The room suddenly fell silent, then everyone laughed. The second biggest dragon in the world was a full six feet shorter and a ton lighter than Chekiath. Senior dragons were highly respected, and every Weyr deferred to their Weyrleader's dragon, but not a single dragon would willingly oppose Chekiath.

Harry looked around with a smile, "And with that comment, how about we all get seated and get started?"

He glanced down at a print out that Janay had given him, then looked around. "Al? Al Ford where are you?"

"Here Harry," shouted a voice from the back of the room. Heads turned to look at the Weyr's chief diplomatic negotiator who seemed to be trying to juggle some rolled up maps and a large cup of coffee.

Harry smiled and motioned for him to relax and get himself straightened out. Albert quickly abandoned his drink and moved to the front of the room. He stood next to the main table and one of the wing leaders in the rear grabbed his drink and passed it forward.

"Yes well Harry asked me to report on what's been happening in the New Zealand and Australia areas. At most of you already know, there was a reserve on Cheeseman Island just off the northern coast of New Zealand. The island itself was really barren and short of dragon flight to get to the nearest town, there is no nearby human community capable of supporting a manned Weyr.

"The New Zealand government is very keen on having a manned Weyr of their own, so they have been very cooperative with us. Right now we've narrowed the location for the proposed Weyr to five possible locations, but we haven't selected one as yet. It's a joint process between the Weyrs and the government. I don't want them to think we're setting terms and I'm keeping a very close eye on what we're doing there. Sakushima Weyr is assisting in surveying each site and I expect that we'll have a report on those surveys by the end of the month.

"The proposed ambulance service did run into a little snag. For the first time a labor union complained that we would be interfering with the unionized rescue service. It took a bit of explaining that that was not the case and the union would be supplying the module staffing. I'm pleased to say that it looks like we'll have another manned Weyr by the February impression and probably another ambulance service even sooner."

While the first ambulance service in the UK did start out staffed by Weyr personnel, they quickly switched over to using trained paramedics from the emergency services. A rider who had been trained as a paramedic did accompany the ambulance module, but they were there mostly to ensure the dragons and the module were in tip top shape. In a few countries the rider wasn't trained as a paramedic at all and their only job was to see to the maintenance and operation of the ambulance module.

"Excellent Al, but what about Australia?" Harry asked.

Al Ford smirked in reply. "They did order twelve dragon ambulance modules and we've agreed to staff a facility with dragons possibly from Sakushima Weyr, or perhaps from the relocated Cheeseman Island Weyr. They also pressed again for a Weyr of their own, offering up two very nice pieces of land, both of which are part of the aboriginal lands. I turned them down again and told them that we would not interfere with, nor take land from the native aborigines without involving them in our talks. Then I hinted that if things continued, we might approach the aborigines directly to see if they wanted a Weyr. The government people weren't happy hearing that, but there are some serious roadblocks, including the autonomy issue that need to be resolved. It doesn't help that so far of the potential rider candidates in Australia that we've found, over sixty five percent of them come from the native population."

Al paused and frowned, looking down at his notes, then he looked at Harry. "We might want to think about talking to the Aborigine Council anyway, with so many potential riders coming from their population pool they should be involved in the talks. As to the autonomy issue, well you know how that goes..."

The room filled with a strained laughter, there was an undercurrent of seriousness behind it. Several countries had tried to renege on their promises after the dragons had established a Weyr within their borders. So far all those problems had been smoothed amicably with one exception where Harry pulled the Weyr out of the country entirely.

Bolivia thought they could 'nationalize' the Weyr barely a year after it had been established. The army rolled up to the Weyr gates with troops and tanks only to discover that the Weyr had been abandoned on Harry's order, it's wings scattered to other Weyrs just waiting for Harry to find a place where they could reform.

The overhead patrol had spotted the military convoy some five miles away from the Weyr and had informed the Weyrleader who called on Harry. Rather than suffer another Condron situation Harry ordered the Weyr evacuated. He figured they would be back in their weyrs in a few hours. It took nearly an additional day before they learned that the country had been planning on nationalizing the Weyr.

Bolivia complained to the world about the Weyr pulling out and their case was brought before the world court where it was likely to be pending for several more years. The Weyr had little proof of Bolivia's intentions, but the treaty they had signed did give the Weyr the option to relocate at The Weyrleader's discretion.

Harry waited until they settled down. "Thank you Al, please make sure Janay has a copy of your notes so she can include them in the meeting report," Harry said.

Al nodded and made a beeline for an open seat and his now cooled coffee. Since coming to the Weyr he had worked on more projects for the Weyr than he had ever did while working for the British Foreign Service and he was loving every minute of it.

Harry glanced down at his agenda then looked up again. "I have read the reports from each Weyr concerning your combat exercises and I want to say how pleased I am. No one here wants to see a repeat of what we experienced with Saudi Arabia, but I'm happy to say that if it happens, I firmly think we'll be ready for it."

"Do you really think it's necessary?" asked Kat Taylor from the front row of seats.

Harry nodded with a grim expression. "Most of you Weyrleaders are aware that Joensuu participated in an operation to assault a group of terrorists in the Ukraine. During that operation we had several injuries and we lost Neberoth and his rider, Sarni Pishkin."

Harry paused and looked around as the room fell completely silent.

"It's common knowledge that the attacks on the power plant construction sites dropped dramatically after those camps were shut down.

"What you don't know is what led to the decision to attack those camps and how they were found in the first place. A British fugitive witch was spotted in the city of Kiev; she was known to be working in close concert with an international terrorist wizard named Carlos the Gerbil. It was her presence that led to the discovery of Carlos and those two training camps. Carlos was killed in the attack, but the British witch escaped.

"Until recently she was thought to have gone to ground and no one had a clue to her whereabouts. That is, until she turned up dead in Seattle Washington in the United States. She was executed in what at first appeared to be a mafia style hit that went terribly wrong. The shooter and another man were found dead nearby."

Harry looked around the room. Everyone was hanging on his words wondering how this tied into their combat training.

"Both dead mean appeared to have killed each other. One was an assassin that had definite ties to the Russians and incredibly the second man was found to be carrying an identification card identifying himself as a member of the Russian Federal Investigative Service. The Americans believe the FIS man probably had orders to kill the trigger man, then vanish the evidence, but the assassin saw the double cross coming and shot the FIS man at the same time as the FIS man killed the assassin. Needless to say no evidence was vanished.

Harry looked directly at Kat. "Getting back to your question. Yes Kat, I do believe our combat training will be used. We have proof enough to link the Russians directly to the efforts to impede our power station construction. I can't take this to the world press, but I can say that I believe without any doubt that we have yet to see the end of Russia's plotting against the Weyrs."

Harry leaned forward on his chair and glanced around. "Make no mistake, Saudi Arabia was the last warning we give to the world. The next time someone attacks us we shall fight back with all the might and fury the Weyrs can muster."

"You've either personally listened to Abbey Rhodes' lecture on the seductive nature of dragon power, or you've seen the video tape of it. Make sure every one of your Wing leaders and seconds have seen it, then pass it around among your wings. Abbey had some good points that everyone can profit from because the next time the Weyrs are forced to fight, we'll know how and we will.

"I want everyone to fight smart and not give into the lure of the power we wield. That's why we train for a day that we pray never comes."

He glanced over to Kat who nodded appreciatively at him. She was pregnant and was becoming rather protective of her Weyr and her dragons. It was something he had noticed with both Hermione and May and he wondered it was a female thing or not, but they seemed to become rather blood thirsty. Neither Hermione or May seemed to care if the Weyr had to kill in order to protect the Weyr and their babies.

He glanced down at his agenda then looked up, "Moving along I have a request from Arnas Roberts of Campbeltown to set up a Meteorology department under the Weyrleader staff umbrella. Right now Arnas functions as our Meteorology Officer here in Campbeltown but he also handles requests from the other Weyrs in terms of forecasts and the like. Arnas cites his increasing workloads are resulting in delayed forecasts."

Arnas stood up near one wall and looked around nervously.

"I'm inclined to agree to his request, but since this is a staffing issue under the offices of The Weyrleader rather than DSL I figured I'd open it to comment. Arnas says he has at least twenty riders lined up and interested in Meteorology. In fact Condron already has one trained Meteorologist and there's another in college at Sakushima."

The Weyrleader's office was a separate entity and not part of Dragon Services Ltd. It's primary purpose was to provide services directly to the Weyrs such as security consulting, building design, shared computer facilities and so on. Adding a Meteorology department made sense to Harry, and Arnas was the perfect person to head it up.

Harry sat back and listened while several people asked questions and listened to Arnas' explanations. He had no doubt that they would agree. It only took one time to pop out of Between into a thunderstorm or a blizzard to make a rider very interested in knowing what kind of weather he was jumping into.

* * *

**Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, August 20****th****, 2006...**

Harry carefully moved over to the kitchen table and sat down with a sigh of relief. May was working at the infirmary tonight and Hermione was down in London and wouldn't return for another three hours. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, but Harry had given Dobby the day off and that left him alone with his children. Really alone.

He had plenty of alone time before, typically while one wife was away and another decided to take a long soak in their tub, but this time he had no one to rely on if something went awry. To put it simply, The Weyrleader, the man that defeated Saudi Arabia, was scared silly that he was going to do something wrong. He was learning to appreciate his wives with each passing minute, running a Weyr was a walk in the park when compared to caring for two magical infants.

Needless to say, Chekiath was quite amused by it all and kept snorting in his bed as Harry struggled to put both children down for the night. Now with the children finally asleep, he could sit and relax for the first time in two hours.

"_You do know you could have called Hermione's parents, or even another elf to help you,"_ Chekiath observed.

Harry nodded slowly, "I know, but I think this is some kind of test. I mean they're my own children, I should be able to take care of them right mate? May is nearby and I think the girls are trying to see if I can do this."

Chekiath snorted and rumbled with mirth.

"Are you laughing at me?" Harry asked incredulously.

Chekiath stretched his long neck out and looked pointedly at Harry. _"Would I laugh at you? You're my rider!" _

Chekiath withdrew back into the dragon area and continued to snort with mirth.

"Traitor," Harry grumbled, then he reached for the newspaper. He had a couple of hours of quiet time and he was going to enjoy it!

A soft knock at his door caused him to glance nervously towards the open door to the nursery before he recalled the silencing charm he had placed on the room. He put the paper down and quickly walked to the door.

Opening the door he was surprised to find Remus, Minerva McGonagall and Charlie Weasley standing there. "Harry," Remus said. "Minerva was visiting and asked if she could stop by to speak with you."

The presence of Charlie Weasley surprised him. The Potters had visited the Burrow on several occasions, especially around the holidays but Charlie had always been absent during those visits. Harry didn't blame the man, his limited exposure to former dragon handlers hadn't been pleasant. Most blamed him directly for the loss of their jobs. Harry had never met a single dragon handler that regretted their time are the reserves. In fact the only exception to that rule had been Maziang and that Weyr never culled their dragons.

Harry's expression lit up with a broad smile, "Minerva, Remus, Charlie, come on in."

He noted Charlie standing awkwardly and he waved him in with a smile. Charlie limped into the house, his injuries healed, but his encounter resulted in a noticeable limp and a need for a cane.

"Welcome Charlie, I had hoped we'd be able to talk but every time we visited the Burrow you were away. Come on in and have a seat, I'll put a pot of tea on."

Charlie flushed slightly, he had been avoiding meeting with Harry since he returned to England. His experience with the dragons in South America had left him with a heavy sense of guilt. It was only in conversation with his father that he came to realize that he might be able to put that guilt behind him if he could find the courage to talk with Harry, and the dragons.

Before Harry could do anything, Dobby appeared and placed a tea service on the coffee table. Harry frowned, "I'm going to have to talk to Dobby again, he just doesn't seem to understand what a day off means."

Remus laughed and clapped Harry lightly on the shoulder. "Oh he knows alright, but he's not about to shirk what he thinks are his responsibilities either. He got that from you."

Harry shook his head ruefully. The Weyr paid the elves handsomely, and they in turn placed all of the money into a single account which did little more than grow every month. The Campbeltown elves were now some of the richest elves in the world. So far no one had managed to convince them to use that money.

Minerva looked up from pouring a cup of tea with an eager expression. "Where are they?"

"Their sleeping, but you can take a peek in," Harry said, then he pointed at the open door to the nursery. Minerva got up and carefully walked into the room.

Harry turned to Charlie, "I was sorry to hear about what happened to you Charlie, but the dragons told me they arrived in time to save you. I was glad they were able to arrive in time."

Charlie nodded and nervously twirled his cane between his feet. "Harry, I want to apologize, both to you personally and to the dragons. When you freed them I was unwilling to believe it. I had spent four hard years training to be a dragon handler, it was the job I had dreamed of for years and suddenly I was out of a job."

Chekiath opened his eyes and looked pointedly at Charlie. _"What was the attraction? Killing us for potion ingredients or caring for the dragons? Few wizards that worked in the reserved cared for the dragons other than a source of income and potion ingredients."_

Charlie started and he suddenly noticed Chekiath in his stall. He swallowed nervously, here was a dragon that was a good thirty feet longer than any dragon he had ever encountered.

Chekiath extended his head into the living room and Harry motioned towards his dragon. "Chekiath, this is Charlie Weasley, he used to work at the same reserve in Romania that Momnarth and the others came from."

"_I know, and I'm still curious. What did you prefer? The cull, or working with dragons?"_

Harry turned to Charlie and shrugged. "Considering dragons saved your life and now you're looking to apologize, I think Chekiath has a right to ask," Harry admitted softly.

Charlie sighed and shook his head then he turned his gaze directly to Chekiath. "All my life I dreamed of working with dragons. When I was accepted as an apprentice I knew about the culling, but I didn't understand how extensive it was or what was involved. I didn't understand how painful and cruel it was. I didn't like it. Dragons seemed too noble to be beasts and even if they were, they deserved a more humane treatment. I was only a lowly apprentice and I wanted that job more than anything. If I complained too loudly I would have lost the job before I had even earned it."

Charlie shifted to look at Harry.

"When the dragons awoke and left the reserve I was angry. Everything I worked for was gone. I blamed you Harry, I didn't want to believe they were intelligent because that would have made me a murderer."

"You couldn't have known Charles," Minerva said from the nursery door. "Albus had been forced into asking why we didn't make heart string wands from French Wizards just to get his point across. Initially people thought he was actually suggesting we do such a thing. They couldn't make the connection he was trying to convey, that dragons were people in a different shape."

"Albus was a strong advocate for the Weyr," Harry added quietly.

Minerva moved to sit and and she looked thoughtfully at Charlie. "Perhaps our greatest failing was not discovering the dragon's intelligence sooner."

"_It would have taken someone like Harry to make that happen Harper,"_ Chekiath replied. _"It is a noble regret, but one which even the Goddess cannot change. Like Harry says, 'now we must learn from our mistakes and move on'."_

"_He does regret his actions Harry. That makes him one of the rare wizard handlers who regret the culls and are remorseful,"_ Chekiath said privately.

Chekiath extended his head into the room and looked directly at Charlie. His eyes streaked with a muted blue and faint tinges of yellow. _"On behalf of Campbeltown and dragon-kind I accept your apology sir. May you find shelter and peace under our wings and may your path lead you to happiness."_

Charlie looked down at his lap and he gasped softly.

"It is better to learn late than never," Harry said softly. His gaze was unfocused and distant.

"Harry?" Minerva pressed.

Harry shook from his mood and turned to Minerva. "Sorry about that. I was quoting a scholar from the first century BC. He said 'It is better to learn late than never'. Some lessons are harder to learn than others and can take longer to learn. I can understand where Charlie is coming from," Harry said, then he turned back to Charlie. "I will not say you shouldn't blame yourself because that would trivialize your actions. What matters now Charlie is how you move forward. Regret and remorse are useful in helping you understand, but they can also pin you in an endless cycle of grief and depression."

Remus raised an eyebrow at Harry. He suspected that Harry was actually talking about the Saudi conflict. Few knew that Harry deeply regretted having to kill those pilots and to some extent it did bother him. Harry hated when someone glorified that incident and his role in it. He would much rather be known for helping bring power to impoverished nations, or the dragons efforts to help in humanitarian efforts than his actions during wartime.

"You surprise me Harry, I never thought you would be a scholar of history," Minerva said softly.

Harry chuckled and waved to a framed diploma. "I never would have thought it either Minerva, but six months ago Lord Mills called me to a special meeting at the Prime Minister's residence. There I discovered that all the tutoring I had been given over the years, plus actual life experience, had earned a degree in International Studies," he said with some bashful pride. "It came as a great surprise to me."

Minerva smiled thinly. "From what I've read, it is well deserved. Harry, there is a reason why Charles and I are here today, we'd like to ask for your help in something."

Harry leaned back on his chair. "Oh?"

"When the dragons withdrew from the schools everyone was pleased because it signaled that we were entering a more peaceful era. The students missed the dragons greatly, but we adjusted and our twice annual field trip to the Weyr for the Care of Magical Creatures class still allowed us to maintain some contact with the dragons."

Minerva looked intently at Harry. "We also understand that dragons should not be included as part of the Care course, but at least for now we have no course designed to cover the other intelligent species other than our updated Magical History and Social Studies course. Charlie here has been putting together ideas for such a course, but we're still a year at least from being able to offer it."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, he really couldn't fault Minerva's position even if he did want them to change that.

Minerva paused and took a sip of her tea, then she gestured towards Charlie.

"Charles here has been hired to take over the care of magical creatures class, but he'd like to broaden that by also teaching magical creature healing. The board has approved of the inclusion of a new elective and we were hoping that we might find a dragon or two that would be willing to help with the two classes. Hogwarts is willing to build a special enclosure, a 'weyr' if you will, for any dragon to live in while at the school."

She stopped and looked hopefully at Harry.

"Its a really good idea Harry," Remus said. "And classes in magical healing would be a help for any potential riders you search from Hogwarts."

Harry nodded and mentally reviewed his roster in his head, then an idea came to him. "Wait a moment, let me check something," he replied.

"_Trath love, how many invalid dragons are we hosting now?"_ he sent silently.

"_There are twenty that we are housing Weyrleader. Some are quite ill, some are just unable to fly. May wants to know why you're asking?"_ replied the startled dragon after a moment.

Harry quickly explained to Trath the situation and then waited while she relayed the information to May. A half minute later she said, _"May says there are five dragons who are unable to fly and not suffering from any additional problems. Any one of them would jump at the chance to have something useful to do."_

"_Thank you Trath,"_ he replied then he turned back to his guests.

"The Weyr has a number of dragons who are unable to perform their duties for various reasons. I've been informed that we have five non-bonded dragons who are basically healthy, but have suffered permanent wing injuries making them unable to fly. Dragons, like people, need to feel like they have a purpose in life. We have a scout troop of Weyr children that try to help with these dragons, but there are only so many children, and far too many dragons at the moment.

"If I ask I am nearly certain that all five dragons would jump at the chance to help at Hogwarts. I'd also be willing to station a rider at the school to help out."

Minerva gasped. "Five dragons?" she exclaimed. "Oh my."

"Is that too many?" Harry asked.

Charlie laughed softly. "No actually. I was hoping that we could get the help of several dragons. With five I'll grab a bunch of seventh year students and we'll build them a Weyr they'll be happy in."

Minerva smiled in approval. "If that's the case I'll arrange to talk with Filius and the others about arranging their seventh year projects around the new construction."

Minerva settled in her chair and turned very serious. "Now that that is out of the way, just what magic did you use to get such adorable little babies Harry Potter?"

Harry blinked at her in shock and Remus burst into laughter. "Honestly Minerva, you can thank their mother's for their good looks. I just hang on and reverse some of their magic."

"So they are both magical then?" Minerva pressed.

Harry nodded with a broad smile. "Mary is very magical, and Daniel is only a step or two behind her. Hermione is unable to reverse any of Mary's accidental castings and she can only reverse some of Daniel's."

Minerva arched an eyebrow at him. It was unusual for a parent to be unable to reverse magic cast accidentally by their child and suggested that both children would be very powerful. Hermione was stronger than average, but not by a great amount, and Harry was a mage, their offspring would be very powerful. What really surprised her was the implication that Mary was more powerful than her brother.

Harry grinned at her and she felt a slight shiver of fear run down her back. She had not seen that grin since James Potter had pranked the entire school.

"If there is one lesson I have learned in life, it's that I will usually agree with my wife's plans. Hermione has told me that our children will be schooled here at the Weyr until they turn eleven. They they will attend Hogwarts at least until their OWLS. The dragons are undecided if they can impress, but if they can, they will be offered the chance after they turn fifteen," Harry said. "Hermione plans to ensure any magical Weyrlings will be given the chance to continue on to take their NEWTS along with the muggle A levels."

This wasn't the primary reason for Minerva's visit, but it warmed her heart to know she'd get the opportunity to teach another generation of Potters.

* * *

**Harry's Quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, November 15th 2006...**

Harry looked up from his position on the floor where he was blowing against the bare belly of his daughter Mary.

"I'll get it," May said, then she put her book aside and stood up. Hermione was busy typing on her laptop and glancing over at the playpen where little Daniel was gurgling at a small magical bear that kept trying to hug him.

Harry blew against Mary's belly again and she squealed in delight.

"May, just the person I need to see," exclaimed a voice.

Harry picked up Mary and turned, he saw Katherine in the doorway, in one hand she held a leash attached to Tweenie.

"Katherine?" Harry said, "Come on in."

Harry walked over to the playpen and placed Mary down next to her brother. Another animated stuffed animal came to life and caught her attention.

Katherine followed May in and Tweenie followed right behind them. The German Shepard was nearly a year old now and perfectly trained. Sirius had taken Harry's advice and showed her what to do as Padfoot. It had worked wonderfully, except that Kirstin insisted that both dogs required proper grooming and lots of pretty pink ribbons.

Remus made sure that the photos of Padfoot dressed in pink ribbons circulated in the Weyr every couple of weeks.

Both babies gurgled happily when they spotted the dog and Tweenie tugged hard on the leash wanting to go over to them.

"So what is the problem Katherine?" May asked.

"You're a veterinarian right?" Katherine pressed.

May blinked in surprise, it was true that her degree was in Veterinary science, but she wasn't a practicing veterinarian. She had used the knowledge about general anatomical systems to springboard into dragon healing. Lord Mills even told her that the Royal Veterinary College in London was considering accrediting her with a degree in teaching if she'd help them put together a curriculum for other dragon healers.

Her sole experience in real veterinary practice had been helping Hermione's Crookshanks through a particularly nasty cold. Familiars like Hermione's Crookshanks have a greatly extended lifespan equal to nearly half of their bonded witch, but that didn't prevent them from getting sick like any other animal.

"I need to get Tweenie neutered. Remus told me if it doesn't happen soon and she catches Sirius in his Padfoot form, Kirstin would end up with puppies for siblings," she exclaimed unhappily.

Harry glanced at Hermione who seemed to be trying very hard not to smile. He couldn't help himself and he burst out in laughter.

"This isn't funny Harry Potter," Katherine snapped. "It never occurred to me that my husband could cheat on me, and with the family pet no less!"

Harry's expression changed almost instantly. "Wait a second. Sirius Black is a lot of things, but a cheat isn't one of them. An animagus isn't a full dog Katherine, it's a wizard, with a human intellect in the body of a dog and while a smart animagus will allow themselves to be guided by the instincts of his form, the human intellect is still in full control. Besides, you're overlooking one important factor."

"What's that?"

"Katherine," Hermione said gently, "don't you remember why you ended up adopting Kirstin?"

Katherine looked at Hermione blankly.

"Someone cursed Sirius, probably Malfoy senior who wanted his son to inherit the Black family fortune," Harry said darkly. Sometime during Sirius' stay in Azkaban he had been tortured and cursed. It was the only incident in his past that they could think of that could have rendered him sterile. Regrettably Sirius had only vague memories of the incident which occurred shortly after he had been imprisoned.

"And Draco wants nothing to do with the Black family fortune, it took Narcissa months to convince him to not change his last name and to accept what remained of the Malfoy fortune," Hermione added.

"Sirius can't have children and I seem to recall you knocking him out when he discovered that and offered to divorce you so you could find someone that could give you children," Harry said. "That means Padfoot can't have puppies. What affects the human form also affects the animal form."

When Sirius and Katherine were having difficulties conceiving they went to Isaac for help. He sent them to a specialist where it was discovered that Sirius was effectively sterile. Normally a man might have a low sperm count and be considered unable to have children, but in Sirius' case he didn't have a measurable sperm count at all, which was why they suspected a magical cause.

"So why would Remus say that to Katherine?" May asked. "He knew about Sirius' condition."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, then his expression grew sly. "The Marauders strike again. Remus always enjoyed the more cerebral style of pranks. Remember that time he convinced half the wizards in the Weyr that winterizing the Weyr vehicles included putting 'winter air' in the tires?

"Sirius prefers a prank involving some disgusting noises or embarrassing public displays, if I know Remus he was just retaliating for something Sirius pulled. I'll bet Remus expected Katherine to get on Sirius' case about being unable to control himself around Tweenie."

Katherine blushed, it was obvious to everyone that Sirius had been her planned next port of call after making arrangements for Tweenie. Katherine knew from experience that the last thing she wanted to do was get involved in a prank war between Sirius and Remus.

"Still," said May, "it's not a bad idea to get Tweenie fixed if you don't want puppies. Besides you don't want to tempt Sirius do you?"

Harry blinked and turned to look at May incredulously while Hermione started to snicker.

Katherine looked at the three of them and blushed. She had been caught in a prank of Remus' and there was only one way of getting revenge on him. She'd talk to Mildred about it.

Harry chuckled softly and turned back to Katherine, "It's not too bad Katherine, at least you didn't accuse Sirius of fooling around with Tweenie in the Kitchen hall."

Katherine smiled weakly and made her excuses before leaving. She had a phone call to make.

* * *

**Campbeltown Weyr Gymnasium, Dec 20****th**** 2006...**

Harry pushed the two child pram into the brightly lit Gymnasium building. It had been nearly six months since the birth of his children and Harry tried as much as he could to reduce the burden on his wives. Elves provided most of the night time care and Harry took over in the morning, taking his kids out with him while he jogged around the Weyr.

But both mothers laid down the law to him back in early October. Their children would not be exposed to the cold of outside while he ran around the Weyr. Harry didn't mind switching to running around the track in the Weyr Gym. He wasn't all that keen about running around outside either.

Harry knelt in front of the pram and carefully pulled the heavy clothing off of the two babies, stuffing them in the ever present baby bag. Once they were in lighter clothes he moved around to the back of the pram and waited for Cheki to enter the building using a door built for the dragons.

Mary was blond with emerald green eyes just like her father and her mother. Daniel was blessed with his mother's brown hair, but he also had Harry's green eyes. Fortunately neither child seemed to have inherited the Potter hair, a fact that both mothers were secretly overjoyed about.

For the most part the babies were active and happy, rarely fussing unless something was wrong. Both children were magical although Mary seemed to be a bit stronger than her brother Daniel. Shortly after they came home from the hospital, Madam Pomfrey had tested them and found them perfectly normal for magical children at their age.

Both Daniel and Mary were a joy to be around, but Harry also knew that things could have been much different had it not been for Tisky, Dobby's wife who took charge of the children at night. Both May and Hermione breast fed their babies, but Tisky insisted that they put aside some milk in bottles for night feedings so that the Weyrhealer and the Weyr Lawsmith could get their sleep.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. Hermione's expression at being called a lawsmith had been priceless. The dragons seemed to take a great deal of pride in inventing titles for people.

The gym had been in place for just over a year now, it was a completely new building, built as the Weyr removed the runway, slowly building up their capabilities by adding new additional buildings. Among the first buildings to be built was a school capable of handling one hundred primary and preschool students.

The Weyr had built the school in 2000 even though it wasn't used as a school for another two years. The school was now slowly hiring on the staff needed as the children moved from preschool to primary school grades.

In 2005 it was decided to add a gymnasium that the school could use as well as the adult riders. For the most part it was a standard gymnasium one would expect to find anywhere around the country, with one sole exception. The indoor track used for jogging was wide enough to accommodate several dragons since they seemed to enjoy running with their riders.

Harry glanced up at Cheki who had finally arrived. "Ready?"

"_Of course,"_ Cheki replied.

Harry slipped on a headphone and pressed a button on his portable MP3 player. It was a gift May had given him two Christmases ago and it was loaded with all kinds of music. Harry found that music, as long as it was either instrumental or in a language he didn't understand, helped him to relax and concentrate on current problems. Vocals in English resulted in him listening to the music instead of trying to work on current problems. May called it weird until Hermione admitted to a similar problem. She avoided it entirely by not listening to music at all while working.

Harry pushed the pram and quickly fell into a comfortable pace with Chekiath alongside. Cheki would glance down at the children every so often, but other than that, this was a typical morning jog for The Weyrleader.

With the track being barely one kilometer, Harry and Cheki needed to make eleven laps to get their ten kilometers in. The track was in Harry's opinion one of the best things at the Weyr. It was freezing outside and there was no way May or Hermione would allow him to take the babies jogging in that cold. The Gym was a very comfortable temperature.

As he ran he considered a notice he had received late last night from the PM's office. It was looking very much like a new bill was likely to be passed that would exempt dragon riders from the country's marriage restrictions. There were still problems with the bill, since it only allowed for 'certified' dragon riders to be exempt, and there was some resistance in parliament to any female/male/male marriages. The PM's office seemed to think that the bill would be passed after some modest debate, which left Harry with the problem of 'certifying' his riders.

Harry smirked at that thought. Like times past the dragon riders were more likely to poke fun at government bureaucracy than to meekly go along with something. For example Chekiath carried his own dragon passport in a pouch attached to his riding harness. The passport was nearly four foot square in size to accommodate his paw print, and at that, it was half size. All of the dragons had similar passports issued by their Weyrs and they took great delight in insisting they get stamped whenever they visit a new country.

Some countries, like Britain, Canada and the US had given the Weyrs the right to stamp passports of visiting dragons, others refused to allow it and required the dragons to arrive at a specific entry point like an international airport or a port entry point.

Certifying riders was going to end up giving someone a headache and if Harry had anything to say about it, it wasn't going to be the Weyr or his riders.

He was contemplating calling for a leadership meeting to inform everyone of the possible change to the marriage laws when he felt something across his dragon bond. It was very faint and his MP3 player was drowning out whatever he was sensing. He popped his headphones off and slowed his pace, then he noticed it, Chekiath was humming.

Harry stopped and turned to his dragon. He recognized that tune, it was from a popular children's television show that Hermione let the children watch for an hour in the evenings. Hermione was very strict about television, but even she was allowed to watch Sesame Street as a child. The babies were too young to understand the show, but there was enough bright colors and music to distract the children long enough for the three adults to eat dinner undisturbed.

Cheki turned to look at him and he stopped humming. _"What? Daniel and Mary like it!"_

"They like it?" he repeated stupidly.

Cheki's eyes twirled with amusement. _"This is what we mean when we say you humans aren't using your bond enough. Listen carefully my rider."_

Chekiath resumed his humming of the TV theme song and both babies turned to look at the dragon with innocent smiles. Harry watched and opened himself fully to his bond with his dragon. He could feel Cheki's consorts react in surprise to Harry's increased presence, but he ignored them. Nearby he could feel another presence, no two presences. It took another minute before Harry realized it was Daniel and Mary reacting in delight to Cheki's humming. This wasn't part of the dragon bond as it first seemed. As he examined what he felt he could tell it was something different that was using the dragon bond simply because it was available.

Slowly both babies became aware of Harry and they turned their attention to him. Harry was amazed. While neither child had the language skills to really communicate, he felt a deep possessiveness from the children that he could summarize in a single word, 'Mine', and he felt their happiness. They felt safe and happy to be with him and Cheki, and somehow he knew that the possessiveness he felt was the basis of what would become their love of family.

The idea staggered him and he slipped to the floor in front of his children. He sat smiling back at the babies and started to hum along with Chekiath while tears slid down his cheeks.

He was still sitting on the floor humming with his dragon and listening to his children when Hermione and May caught up with him. Both women had been alarmed at first that something might be wrong, but their dragons assured them all was well.

Harry looked up at them and grasped their hands, then gently pulled them down to the track floor. "Listen to the bond," he murmured, "Listen as hard as you can, its there, floating on top of our bond like a gentle breeze barely felt."

Both babies lit up seeing Momma and only Cheki's increased humming kept them from getting distracted.

May closed her eyes and listened to her bond. She gasped a moment later when Trath helped her hear what Harry had been listening to. The possessiveness that both babies felt extended to both women in nearly equal measures. Harry had suspected that the babies made no real distinction between May and Hermione, but now he knew it for a fact.

Hermione smiled and leaned against Harry who tried to wipe away some tears without anyone noticing. "Family," she whispered, then she reached up and turned Harry's head towards her. "Family starts here."

He smiled wanly at her and nodded. May pressed against his other side and chuckled softly. "You know when this gets out, we're going to have a lot of child psychologists wanting to come to the Weyr," she offered.

"They can want," Harry said in reply. "but I'll be damned if I'm going to let any child of our riders become subjects of someone's research."

He reached out and gently rubbed Mary's cheek with two fingers. The little girl grabbed his hand and immediately stuck one of his fingers in her mouth and chomped down hard. Harry smiled at his daughter. "I don't think I really understood what family meant until now. I love you both with all my heart, but these little babies, our babies, understand what family means better than I do."

"_Then you'll just have to learn from them,"_ Chekiath offered. _"They aren't like our hatchlings who know their names when they hatch. They are so very different. In one way helpless and frail, but in another they know things that no dragon knows. They will teach you my rider, and from you, we dragons may come to understand better what family means."_

Chekiath went back to his humming and both of his consorts joined in while Harry, May and Hermione sat with their little family, enjoying the music and reveling in the emotions they could feel from their children.

* * *

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, Early August 2008...**

Harry stood at his office window and looked out over the Weyr. From his location he could see one of the ambulance modules just waiting to be called into action. It was a boxy affair designed much like a modern ambulance, but it sat on pads instead of wheels and there were several large reinforced gripping points on top for a dragon to lift the module.

At each corner of the module was a large cylinder that contained an industrial sized gyroscope to give the module stability while in flight. Future ambulance module designs would incorporate the gyros into the main cabin so they wouldn't be so unslightly.

The module had entered trial service barely twelve months ago and already there were people around the world clamoring for the service. The module was designed to carry two patients, two paramedics and a rider as 'pilot'. The module also contained a hot rock powered generator to the module and enough medial equipment to make any major city ambulance crew green with envy.

Given that a typical dragon could sustain 200 miles per hour in straight flight, it was faster than most helicopter air ambulances in the world. Isaac had worked up a set of rules concerning transporting patients Between. Generally speaking if the patient's symptoms or injuries weren't on the list, then the dragons would straight fly the module and no modern air ambulance could match the ability of a dragon to go Between.

Normally Campbeltown Weyr had three ambulance modules, but today only one was visible. Harry frowned at that thought because it meant two were already out on emergency calls.

"Weyrleader, your ten o'clock appointment is here," said Janay from the door.

He shook from his retrospective mood and glanced towards his computer to see who he was scheduled to meet with then his smile widened. The Weyr had been trying to talk with this person for several months with no luck. The man had managed to avoid allowing anyone from the Weyr making an appointment. Ronan then proposed a plan that might result in them coming to the Weyr. Make him believe the Weyr was about to step on his toes and he would come running to talk to Harry.

Ronan's plan worked like a charm. They had allowed several of their low altitude capsule tests to be seen, but always from a distance so it wasn't quite certain what people were seeing.

Harry knew exactly why this person had asked to meet with him. "Please send him in Janay, then hold any calls."

The Weyr was about to blitz one of the most business savvy people on the planet.

Harry stood and walked around to the front of his desk. A moment later Janay showed his guest in. "Sir Richard, I'm Harry Potter," Harry said and then he offered his hand. After the two shook hands, Harry motioned for him to take a seat, then he returned to his own seat.

He looked across at a man who had his fingers in so many pies that it was hard to tell exactly what division he represented at any given moment. "I admit to being a bit confused Sir Richard," Harry began.

"Please, just Richard," Branson said softly.

Harry nodded and returned the smile, "Then please call me Harry. As I was saying Richard, I admit to being confused by your request for a meeting. Normally most companies go through our public relations office before being handed off to Dragon Services Limited."

"My second, Ronan Clark suggested that you might have heard about our new line of dragon transport modules..."

Harry trailed off when Branson shook his head. "I'm sorry Weyrleader, my executive assistant was instructed not to give away too much. We didn't want any information leaking out to the press, or to any potential competitors."

Harry leaned forward in his chair. Just as he did, the dragon doors began to lift. Chekiath strolled into the room to the shock of Harry's visitor. It was a move Harry had planned specifically to remind his guest just exactly who's home turf he was playing on.

Branson's eyes widened and his Adam's apple bobbed nervously at the site of the enormous dragon. It wasn't often that you came face to face with a being the size of a mid sized commercial jet.

"Sir Richard, may I introduce you to Chekiath, my bonded dragon," Harry said with an unconcealed tone of pride.

"_Good Morning Sir, I hope you enjoy your visit with us. May you find peace and shelter under our wings."_

Branson's mouth opened and closed silently for twenty seconds, then he shook himself free from his shock. "Thank you Chekiath, I am sure I will find my visit most illuminating," he replied smoothly, then he spared Harry a quick glance before continuing. "It is already turning out to be different than what I expected."

Chekiath's eyes twirled with streaks of green and he circled a few times before settling in his sand bed, watching Harry and his visitor.

Branson watched the dragon for a moment longer, then he turned back to the young man behind the desk. "Tell me Harry, what do you know of the SpaceX competition?"

Harry shook his head, "I've never heard of it before," Harry admitted truthfully. International competitions wasn't something he paid much attention to.

Branson reached into his valise and extracted a file folder. "SpaceX is an internationally sponsored competition to build a low cost, reusable, ground to low orbit transportation system. All of the competitors are still a few years off of being ready to make the attempt, but my company, like some of the others, have taken to using high altitude balloons to test subsystems."

He opened the file folder and pulled out a grainy image of a large yellow and white sphere. It was obviously one of Campbeltown's test capsules and the Dragon flag was plainly visible on the side of the sphere. Branson handed the photo to Harry.

"Strangely enough, that image is just one of a handful of frames we managed to get. That thing appeared in our cameras and then a few seconds later it vanished again. I'm told it was at least fifty thousand feet above our test platform and only the high quality of our cameras allowed for us to capture that image."

Harry looked at the image and hid a smirk. They had been specifically performing capsule tests to coincide with Branson's tests, hoping that they would eventually notice.

During each of the test flights Garanoth had released the capsule while he practiced a few jumps Between to change orientation. The capsule with the built in gyroscopes made it resistant to sudden attitude changes, and that meant the dragon had to disengage from the capsule. During the time that he wasn't holding the capsule, it became visible to Branson's cameras.

"Needless to say, I and quite a few others have a significant investment in developing reusable technology to allow easy ground to orbit capabilities. I'm sure you can see why I find myself concerned."

"Yes," Harry admitted. "I can understand that. Would it help any if I gave you my word that low Earth orbit was not something we're interested in?"

Branson looked at Harry in shock. Harry knew he was giving up a lot by giving up low Earth orbit, but there was a totally untapped market for higher orbits and beyond. It had been an issue brought up by Ronan's test flights when it was realized that dragons were capable of traveling much further than anyone dreamed possible. Up until Garanoth's moon trip it had been assumed that Sidraneth's fateful jump to Earth from Pern had been a fluke, something fueled by her extreme anguish and desire to die. Now Harry and Ronan were unconvinced and Ronan was planning a series of tests to try to establish how far a dragon could jump.

"So you're admitting that you've been sending that into space?" Branson exclaimed, pointing at the photo.

Harry shrugged, "I am not the government Sir Richard. The Weyrs have been exploring business opportunities beyond what the Hot Rocks have developed. This is just one thing we are looking into. And while we're on the subject, our new passenger modules show the potential to revolutionize air travel. That is something you might want to look into right now. Space is a years away for both of us, but our passenger modules are a thing of tomorrow."

Branson frowned and leaned forward. "Passenger modules?" he asked warily.

Harry sent off a quick message via Neruth, then he gestured to a large photo on one wall. "DT&amp;T or Dragon Transport and Tourism is one of our older subsidiaries and it had a particularly rough start. We had no problem transporting heavy machinery to the most remote locations, but our riders often felt that dragons could do so much more. Imagine being able to bring a load of tourists to a remote lodge hundreds of miles up the Amazon, or offer aerial tours of Antarctica?"

Harry looked over at Branson and saw the man's eyes widen in interest. He smiled slightly, then pointed at the space capsule. "We quickly discovered that people didn't like being exposed to Between, it scared them. Hell, first time riders are often afraid of it themselves.

"DT&amp;T management had been seriously considering dropping tourism from the name and just specialize in moving heavy loads when someone saw the design for a prototype capsule and started asking questions."

The door opened and Karen stepped in carrying a large folder. Harry waved her in and motioned for her to sit. "In keeping with our commitment to humanitarian efforts, the first passenger module we turned out was a small ambulance module capable of carrying a maximum of six people."

Harry waved towards the photo on the wall. "There are sixty ambulance modules in use around the world, and we have orders to manufacture two hundred more. The modules are sold with a guarantee of a dragon providing the ferry lifting service. Joensuu Weyr and Svartvatn Weyrs have combined forces to provide coverage for all of Europe."

Harry nodded to Karen and she opened her folder and pulled out a large artist sketch of a large passenger module capable of seating eighty passengers. She handed the sketch to Harry.

Harry smiled broadly, then he turned the sketch so Branson could clearly see it. "The ambulance module was really a test of concept which worked out far better than we could have ever dreamed. But it's not an integral part of their remit. They still wanted to provide tours to hard to reach areas. Now they have the vehicle for it, but they also realized that they had the possibility of something bigger than we could handle alone."

"The sketch is an artist's conception of a D5 passenger module. The number indicates the number of dragons used to lift and ferry the module to it's destination. Flight time from London to Tokyo, just shy of four minutes, most of which is taken up by coordinating the dragons and loading the passengers and baggage. Actually transit time is far less, just two point six seconds," Karen said softly. "The module itself is capable of carrying eighty passengers along with a crew of four that mainly help seat the passengers and stow away luggage. With the transit time so short, there is no need for meal services, or even a pilot. There is a lead dragon rider who coordinates the dragons, but that's the extent of the anticipated crew."

Branson stared at Karen incredulously, the artists design looked like a bus that had been stretched wide. It was a squat, squarish affair and totally unlike any aircraft design he had ever seen. There was no way the boxy shape could fly and yet, it didn't really need to fly. The dragons did the flying for it.

"Sir Richard, may I present to you Karen Clark, CFO of Dragon Services Ltd and coordinator for new business ventures," Harry said. He knew he was ambushing Branson, but this is what he wanted from the get go. He planned to drop a bomb about the low Earth orbit market, and then distract Branson with an unrelated business opportunity.

Karen passed the sketch to Branson, then handed him a photograph of a passenger module that was much smaller. "That's a D2, capable of handling forty passengers," she offered.

"Yes, the D2-1 is a prototype we built here in Campbeltown," Harry added. "It really only needs one dragon to lift it but we decided early on the all of the passenger modules will use more dragons than absolutely necessary just in case something happens to a dragon in transit. That particular module is currently being used by the Weyrs to transport Weyr employees who are not riders. For example last week DSL's network staff went to Columbia to help install our network at a new Weyr we're opening this year."

Branson looked up from examining the photograph. "This is real?"

"If you want, we can show it to you. Even take you for a ride if you wish," Harry offered.

Branson leaned back on his chair and looked at Harry. "What do you need me for?"

The Weyrs had the ability to make the passenger modules, and they had the dragons willing to take them Between, but they lacked the organization and the facilities that most major airlines had. If they could find just one airline to take advantage of the service, the Weyrs could remain behind the scenes, leasing the hardware and dragons while someone else worried about terminals and baggage handling and all the other hundreds of minor little details that an airline handled every day.

"We can make the modules Richard and supply the dragons to lift them. That isn't the problem. Our problem is all the little things that you already do and know how to do in running an airline that we know nothing about and honestly don't want to get involved in. Our idea was to pick a handful of major airlines and see if they would be willing to partner with us. We'll supply the passenger modules and the dragons, you'd supply the know how, facilities and staff, all of which you already have."

Branson looked intrigued for a moment longer, then the acute businessman kicked in. "How exclusive would this partnership be?"

Harry smiled. "At first Karen and our people at DT&amp;T were considering offering it to one major airline per country, but I suggested making it more exclusive. Right now we're seriously considering one major carrier per continent. As one of the UK's major carriers, Virgin Atlantic would be the sole carrier for the European continent. There would be another for Asia, Africa, Australia, America and so on," Harry replied.

Branson smiled broadly and leafed through the photos. Harry sipped his tea while Karen started pulling out charts showing delivery schedules for passenger modules. Most of the manufacturing would be handled in the country with the final assembly being at Campbeltown. What no one other than a select few knew was that several of the designs had a more robust version that would be safe for space travel.

Seven hours later Branson left the Weyr, excited by an amazing business opportunity and relieved that he wouldn't be competing with the Weyrs for the space launch business.

It wouldn't be until nearly three days had passed before Branson understood exactly what had happened. The Weyrs didn't need to compete in the already crowded low Earth orbit market. They were aiming for a market that didn't even exist, and one, Branson ruefully concluded, he couldn't compete with. The technology just wasn't ready for deep space yet and probably wouldn't be for years to come.

The dragons had an advantage that no one could compete with. No matter how you looked at it, the technologies used to put stuff into orbit were dangerous. Rockets, unlike dragons, could and did explode from time to time.

* * *

**Harry's Quarters, October 31st 2008...**

Hermione idly stirred her tea while she read the newspaper detailing new legislation.

Harry was on the floor playing with the babies and May was bustling around in their kitchen preparing lunch for the next day since all three would be out of the Weyr for most of the day.

She glanced up and watched Harry for a moment. The last few days he had been very working hard, then he'd come home to spend most of his time playing with Mary and Daniel. It wasn't much different than his normal routine, but it was just enough off to make her notice it.

"Harry? Is something wrong?" she asked.

He looked up from tickling Daniel. Mary used the distraction to hit him with her teddy bear. He grinned and tickled her for a moment, causing her to squeal and laugh, then he turned back to Hermione. "No, there's nothing wrong, why?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "it just seems like you've been paying a lot of attention to the children lately."

Harry stood and Dobby appeared. The elf gathered the two laughing children and levitated them in to their bath.

Harry quickly gave each a kiss, then he sat at the table with Hermione who was still waiting for him to answer her question.

"I don't know if I can explain it, but last year around this time I realized that being a parent was hard work. You really had to work at it. I've watched your parents with the children, I've watched May's parents also but a grandparent isn't quite the same thing," he said slowly. "I barely remember my parents so I don't have them as a role model."

He gestured to a wall calendar and Hermione looked at it, then her eyes widened as she realized the date. "This time of year reminds me of what was taken from me," he added. "And what I have. It reminds me to work a little harder at being a husband and parent instead of being Weyrleader."

"I wondered about that," May said from the doorway. "Last year you practically kicked Dobby out of the house so you could take care of the babies. And for no reason at all, you took the both of us out to that show in London and the fancy dinner."

Harry shrugged and looked embarrassed. "And we'd be doing it again if it wasn't for the new combat drills out of Condron. I know its silly but I want to spoil my family."

"No, its rather sweet," May countered. "You have a personal day that reminds you that you have a family. More of us should do the same."

"I agree," Hermione said, "but you don't have to spoil us Harry. We have a nice house, no worries about bills. We have our health and the children are happy. I know there are problems looming, but here and now its just about perfect."

"Well maybe now," May said with an impish grin, "but ask me again when Mary turns four or five and I'm going to want another baby. I think a boy this time."

Harry looked at her in shock, then he turned to Hermione who looked thoughtful. "Five years old sounds about right," she added then she turned to Harry and smirked. "And if May is going to have a boy, you better give me a girl. Its the father that determines the sex you know."

Harry shook his head and picked up the newspaper to check the Football scores. He didn't even want to contemplate both women being pregnant at the same time again. The last time Cheki turned out to be a life saver by allowing him to pop to any place he needed to buy the food for their cravings.

* * *

**Campbeltown Weyr, Dragon Design Shop #2, Late November 2008...**

Ronan climbed through the hatch and closed it behind him. He winced and sighed to himself, his hand still ached enough that he had finally gone to Harry and asked to be relieved as Divisional leader for Division 2. He could mount his dragon, but if he was pressed for time, there was no way he could quickly mount Garanoth and still be pain free.

Issac had tried numerous things to help alleviate his pain, but phantom limb pain was something medical science was still trying to understand, let alone treat.

Ronan flipped on a switch and the interior of the capsule lit up. This was capsule four. From that first capsule that took Tweenie to the moon and back to this capsule, Ronan had overseen a series of capsules, each more capable than the last. Capsule four, was the largest yet and it very nearly matched the shape and size of the original Egg design.

The interior cabin could seat six and would eventually, but for now this was a solo mission.

Throwing a few more switches the interior cabin came to life and a screen lit up showing multiple camera views of the exterior. He glanced over to one side of the main console and looked at the two photographs that Harry had placed there.

Jason was a full fledged toddler now, and given his parents, quite a handful. Harry insisted on placing the photograph there saying it would remind him not to do anything stupid.

_The overhead crane slowly lowered the command module assembly onto the landing assembly. The manufacturing building had two such overhead cranes capable of moving two hundred tons across the shop floor. _

_Ronan watched from one side while a half dozen riders and several silver haired men went to work bolting the two assemblies together. The older men were hired on by the Weyr and were usually related to a rider. Each man was hired on to provide the younger riders with experienced supervision._

_Ronan reached and absently rubbed his hand._

"_That's Capsule 4?" _

_Ronan started and then turned to Harry. Harry visited the shop floor at least once a week, it wasn't that he was checking up on anyone, but the whole process of making something from scratch fascinated him. Ronan had offered to arrange for Harry to get some lessons on the machinery, but he had to reluctantly decline. As much as he was interested, there was just no time in his schedule._

"_Yes, she's almost ready to go. This is the last assembly step before we begin systems checkout."_

_Harry nodded and then he motioned towards the open hatch of the capsule._

_Ronan grinned and he waved to the lead foreman who waved back, he turned back to Harry. "It should be fine for us to enter. The crew will take a break so we can talk in private."_

_Harry grinned, then he climbed up the ladder to the main hatch and entered the capsule. The interior was lit up, powered by the local plant power until the batteries could be installed._

_Harry sat at the pilot's console and he swiveled his chair to face Ronan who sat at the communications station. "About your email," he began._

_Ronan sucked in a breath and waited nervously._

"_I spoke with Karen and Issac both before I made my decision. I don't need to tell you what Karen wanted. Issac was a little less forceful about his opinion, but both of them are worried about you. As am I Ronan. I know that giving up your division wasn't easy for you, and if you are like me, you absolutely hate being tied to a desk._

"_Issac made it clear that the chronic pain you endure probably won't go away anytime soon. It was the primary reason why I reluctantly accepted your resignation from Division Two."_

_An icy knot formed in Ronan's stomach and his shoulders slumped slightly. He had heard this speech before and it wasn't the speech he wanted to hear._

"_I gave it a lot of thought Ronan and I've decided that you can be the lead test pilot for the capsule project, but only if you promise me you will never take any unnecessary risks," Harry said softly. "We need to feel like we're doing something to contribute to the Weyr. Your engineering skills are a great contribution, but as a rider I know you feel it isn't enough. We are riders, we are expected to be doing something."_

_Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph and stuck it to the wall in front of the pilot's seat. It was a photo of his son Jason. "There is a permanent sticking charm on that picture. I expect you to use it as a reminder that every decision to make could result in Jason growing up without a father. I grew up without a father and I can tell you it is not pleasant."_

_Ronan stared at Harry in open mouthed shock for a moment. "You're going to let me be the pilot?" he exclaimed._

_Harry grinned at Ronan, "One of us has to have the fun. I know Karen's going to be pissed at me, but you need this, and we need you leading this effort."_

_Ronan nodded eagerly and leaned back on the chair in relief. Suddenly things were looking up, he thought to himself._

"Are you okay Ronan?"

Ronan blinked and shook his head, then he glanced over to one of the ground crew members standing in the hatchway. He smiled ruefully, "Sorry, got lost reminiscing for a moment. Is there a problem?"

"No I just wanted to let you know we had just finished topping off the fuel cells."

"Very well, close her up and I'll start the prelaunch checklist," replied Ronan.

The crewman shot Ronan a thumbs up and backed out of the hatchway. A moment later the heavy door swung shut and the seals engaged.

"_You were thinking very hard there Ronan,"_ Garanoth said, _"I know Karen doesn't trust us, but I know you wouldn't do anything reckless."_

Ronan glanced up at the ceiling of the capsule and grinned. "I know mate, it's not like we're going to try sky diving again," he replied with a small smile. Before his accident he and several others had taken up sky diving, using their dragons as a jump platform. Needless to say Karen was most upset with his reckless behavior and let him know it. In fact Karen had been heard by most of the Weyr as she expressed her displeasure.

After his accident Ronan quickly became more cautious and more inclined to consider options before taking any risks.

Ronan opened a small case and removed a stapled booklet. "Let's start the pre-flight checklist. Primary fuel cell engaged, secondary fuel cell to standby," he muttered, then he threw two switches.

The interior of the capsule came alive with lights and sounds. A small breeze ran across his fingers on the console as dozens of fans spun up to full speed.

Outside the capsule twenty members of the ground crew watched carefully for any signs of trouble. An outdoor speaker patched into the radio circuit so they could hear Ronan even over the whine of the four gyros.

Garanoth moved into position and a minute later the capsule lifted off the ground. The capsule and dragon hung motionless for a second then vanished from sight. Capsule four was off for an extended flight test and wouldn't return for several hours.

"Alright lads, now that thats done, we still have two D5 modules to finish mating to the landing assembly," said one of the older men. The crew nodded and moved towards another area of the building. Their part of the job was done and control of the test now passed to Minnewanka Weyr who had installed a large dish for such purposes.

One hundred miles above the planet Ronan tore his gaze from the window reluctantly, he had seen it before, but it was a mesmerizing sight to behold. "Gar, lets set up to test the breath exchanger," He said aloud. He didn't have to speak aloud, but the only sound in the capsule was the soft hum from various pieces of machinery. The noise reminded him he was the only human for a hundred miles and he was surrounded by an environment that would kill him in an instant.

"_I'm ready Ronan,"_ Garanoth replied.

Ronan tapped a button on the console and the video display switched to another screen. "Okay, go ahead."

On one monitor he could see Garanoth place his head into the breathing station. When his nose bumped the pressure switch at the bottom of the station an inflatable collar expanded to seal the gap around his neck. Suddenly there was a loud whooshing noise inside the capsule as Garanoth exhaled, and then another whoosh as he inhaled.

The seal around the dragon's neck had to be as strong as possible without choking the dragon. Fortunately it only needed to be in place and active for only as long enough for the dragon to exhale and inhale.

"_That worked better this time Ronan,"_ Garanoth said.

Ronan breathed a sigh of relief. The last time they had tried this the seal had been bad and the dragon hadn't gotten any air. It caused the entire test to be aborted.

"Great! But we're not out of the woods yet Gar, we have thirty nine more tests to make on the exchanger. At least now we can continue with the other tests. Are you ready for our next jump?"

"_I'm ready,"_ replied the dragon. If anyone else were listening in, they would think the dragon was nearly as excited as the rider, and they would be right.

"Very well, let's go to the moon Gar," Ronan said.

* * *

**Russian Foreign Ministry Building, Moscow Russia, December 2008...**

The door opened to the opulent office and the Russian Foreign Minister looked up from his desk with a broad smile. "Ambassador Fhad, please come in, I am glad you were able to come to this meeting."

Fhad made a simple gesture of greeting, then he held out his hand to Minister Tupulov.

Tupulov shook the ambassador's hand, then gestured for him to take a seat. Rather than returning to his own seat behind his desk he sat on a comfortable chair directly across from the ambassador. The minister leaned forward and pour two cups of strong Russian tea which he knew the ambassador greatly enjoyed.

"How are you today my friend?" asked Tupulov.

Fhad gestured towards the window, "I am doing well, but I often wish your country had a capital that didn't have such harsh winters."

Tupulov chuckled, "I can see what you mean, but our hard Russian winters have worked to our advantage several times. Both Hitler and Napoleon came to regret them. Now how can we help you?"

Fhad opened his briefcase and removed a small folder. "After our last discussion I spoke personally with the King who agreed that we will help, but I'm afraid we still have a problem. Unlike you, we have a Weyr that is still hidden from everyone. This Kenyan Weyr's location is not precisely known."

Tupulov nodded gravely. "And if you knew it's location?"

Fhad's expression grew grim. "After our last encounter with these beasts our generals are convinced that only a complete surprise bombing attack will suffice. If we knew where they were, we would bomb them. Such an attack would show that British Weyrleader that we are not to be trifled with. Wiping out this den of beasts would surely give these riders pause."

Tupulov smiled, this was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Your words encourage me my friend. Together we may be able to convince these 'dragon riders' that we will not stand for them ruining our economies."

Fhad nodded grimly. "You do know we cannot kill them all?"

Tupulov waved dismissively. "Of course, but if we can hurt them badly enough they will think twice about attempting to counter attack. Our forces will fight them while at the same time we will threaten Finland, warning them to remain neutral or face consequences."

Tupulov stood and walked over to his desk and pressed a button.

"Minister?" said a voice over the intercom.

"Contact the Defense ministry and ask the Minister to contact me as soon as possible," He said, then he released the button and turned back to Ambassador Fhad.

"You looked for the Weyr but couldn't find it. I will press my government to help you find them using our best equipment and people. Then my friend, then we shall plan to teach these dragons to respect the natural balance of the world," he proclaimed.

Fhad raised his tea in salute. "To our mutual good fortune," he said.

Tupulov wished he had some vodka to do a real Russian toast, but he knew better to offer such a drink to the ambassador who was a devote Muslim.

* * *

**Disko Island, Mid February 2009...**

Janice McCoy stood among her fellow potentials waiting and watching nervously. Each potential wore an outfit much like a martial arts Gi, only it was adorned with the colors of her sponsoring Weyr. The heavy padded outfit helped protect the potential riders during those rare times that a newly hatched dragon would try to tear through the crowd of potentials to get to her rider. It hadn't happened often, but when it did the potentials were glad to have the heavily padded outfits.

McCoy wore the black and white stripes of Campbeltown Weyr despite being American. She had been found on search in her London school where her parents sent her while they worked at the American Embassy.

She had been offered a chance to go to Condron, but had turned down the chance. Her life long dream to attend the American Air Force academy and learn to fly was quickly altered. Even with her father's influence she a slim chance of attending the Air Force academy and getting flight training. Only a small percentage of the graduating class went on to become fighter pilots. Becoming a dragon rider would fulfill her dream of flight even better than learning to fly jets.

Staying at Campbeltown would put her at the center of the action. Condron was nice, and it was American like she was, but Campbeltown was home to The Weyrleader, and Campbeltown was the Weyr that was involved in most dragon related issues. Janice wanted to be at the center of the action and in her mind that meant Campbeltown.

A sound broke Janice from her day dreaming and she looked around, the place still astounded her. The hatching chamber had been expanded and redesigned. It was hard to believe that they were nearly three hundred feet underground. The stands had room for nearly six thousand spectators. Currently there were less than two thousand in the stands, broken into three sections of family, riders and general spectators. The general spectators were contained within plexiglass walls to prevent them from reaching the hatching sands.

There were eight hundred and forty potential riders on the field today and while it seemed like a lot, they had been drilled for the last two weeks in where to stand and what do to if a hatchling came at them. Janice glanced at her egg which was rocking slightly. Some of the other eggs were violently shaking and she had seen enough videos to know that hers would soon be shaking like the others.

Each potential had spent much of the last two weeks helping the egg mother care for the egg. Janice had been especially pleased when Comaloth had picked her to help. The Weyrleader's wives had produced some of the largest dragons. Janice hoped her dragon would be as large. It had been an unexpected honor to be picked by Comaloth.

Suddenly the crowd gasped and she heard the curious bleating bellow of a newly hatched dragonette searching for their rider. The sound was quickly repeated and the weyrling masters started waving the riders who had cared for those eggs forward.

Another gasp rippled through the crowd, but Janice was too busy watching her egg to notice.

Her egg gave a violent lurch and the top cracked neatly, then was pushed to one side.

"McCoy, you're up," shouted a glamored Hagrid. The Weyr couldn't hide Hagrid from the families and press, so they did the next best thing. Sirius came up with a glamor that made him appear two feet shorter than he actually was.

Janice stepped away from her fellow potentials with an eager grin. She took a half dozen steps while the little dragon freed itself from the egg, then she skidded to a stop in confusion. Her dragon was a standard brown in coloration, and was heavily speckled with bright orange stars.

"What?" she mumbled in shock. As far as she knew, there had never been a dragon with orange stars in their coloring!

"Don't worry about that now," said a voice over her shoulder. She glanced back to see May and several of the other Weyr healers on the hatching sands. "Go meet your mate!"

Janice stumbled forward and the little dragon approached her eagerly. Their gazes locked on each other and the world seemed to fall away for the girl. She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and suddenly she could feel the little dragon! It was unlike any feeling she had ever felt in her life. _"Janice! I'm Starth and you're my rider. We'll be together always!"_ announced the little dragon excitedly.

She glanced along the glistening flanks of the dragon noting the orange stars and couldn't help but laugh as she reached down to wrap her arms around the dragon's neck. "Yes you are!"

After a minute she remembered her training. "Sweetheart, you must be famished, come along with me and we'll get you something tasty to eat."

"_I am very hungry,"_ observed the little dragon.

She led the little dragon towards the exit only to be redirected by Ronan to another exit. Frowning at the unexpected change she and Starth entered a large chamber. Nearby were several of Campbeltown's Weyrhealers. House elves popped in with sheep for the hatchlings who eagerly had their first meal.

The presence of the healers had Janice so worried even her dragon picked up on it. The little Ridgeback lifted her head from her meal and looked at her rider with whirling yellow eyes. _"I don't feel sick,"_ she announced.

Harry looked up from speaking to May, then he turned to the others. "No, you're not sick Starth. Nor are you others. We're just trying to understand what's happening here," he said firmly.

Janice blinked in surprise, then she took a good look around here. There were four more hatchlings in the chamber eating and watching their riders. Janice had been so intent on her own dragon and the feelings she was experiencing that she hadn't noticed the strange markings on the other hatchlings.

Her dragon had been marked with bright orange stars and she was certain that somehow affected her dragon's name, not that she minded, Starth was a very pretty name in her opinion. Also in the chamber with her dragon were four other dragons with unusual markings.

Milly Tyson had a swedish short snout with pink hearts, Jon Able had impressed a vipertooth with yellow moons, there was another boy whose name Janice couldn't remember that had impressed a horntail with green clovers and finally Andrea Thompson who had impressed a very strange looking Norwegian Ridgeback that was striped. The poor dragon was covered in orange and black stripes, totally hiding any of her natural color.

Starth finished her meal and joined Janice watching the room. Without really considering it, Janice sat on the rock floor and her dragon curled up so she could lay her head in her rider's lap. Janice absently stroked Starth's head while she watched the healers examine the other dragons.

"So we have a starred dragon named Starth," Harry murmured, "a dragon with moons named Moonth, another with clovers named Clovth, the heart shaped markings on Hearth... Why do I feel like this is a prank by Sirius?"

"Don't forget Tigth," May added, fighting a smile. "Look Harry, as far as I can tell it's only a surface marking, like a tattoo. There's nothing wrong with the dragons."

Katie Bell approached May and May turned her attention to Katie. Katie was one of the better magical healers, but she was still struggling to learn the non-magical side. Few people understood just how much science and math was involved in learning to be a veterinarian and Katie was struggling with that aspect of the field.

"Yes Katie?" May asked.

"It's really faint, but I'm detecting a spell residue on the hatchlings. Whatever spell has been cast on them is beyond me to dispell," Katie said.

"So a spell," Harry said, "Dobby!"

Dobby appeared right next to Harry. "Yes Harry?"

Harry smiled at his friend. It had taken a number of years, but his relationship with Dobby had slowly changed from subservient house elf to something more like employer and friend. "Dobby, can you ask Sirius to join us?"

Dobby nodded and vanished with a sharp pop.

Harry leaned against the wall and relaxed for a moment while he waited. The impression had gone off without a hitch thus far.

Janice heard a soft noise and she looked up to see Emma Granger pushing a double stroller with the Weyrleader's children. Emma had been watching the children while Hermione sat with some prospective commercial partners. It had become standard Weyr practice to invite the chief officers of companies they were wooing to see an impression. Hermione and her legal department usually worked with Lee and his press office to see to the comfort of these VIPs. And that meant Emma had the opportunity to spoil her grandchildren.

Harry frowned at his mother in law when she came through the door. He wasn't sure it was safe for his children to be exposed to whatever magic was happening here.

"I'm sorry dear, but the children wanted to see the colorful dragons again," Emma said with a smile. Her grandbabies were toddlers now and just starting to talk. For the most part they were very well behaved children.

Harry slowly nodded and turned back to Sirius.

Mary slid out of stroller and she stood looking at Starth. "Pretty," she said happily. "Stars!"

"_I like them, thank you,"_ replied Starth.

Harry turned from where he had been talking to Sirius and stared incredulously at Starth. "Wait, what did you say?"

Starth turned to look at the Weyrleader. _"I was just thanking the little miss."_

Mary laughed and then unsteadily bent over and kissed the top of the dragon's head. Daniel seeing his sister at the center of attention decided to join the act and he climbed out of his stroller seat to kiss the hatchling.

Harry walked over to where Janice and Starth were sitting and he crouched down, then he placed a hand on the dragon and closed his eyes.

"Stars!" announced Daniel proudly.

"Tigger!" Mary replied, pointing at Tigth.

Harry opened his eyes and stifled a groan. It wasn't Sirius behind this little prank. He turned to May who was looking at him anxiously. "Do you remember when Hermione last cast the limiter charm?"

Magical children normally had a magical block put in place that slowly faded so that it was completely gone by the time they were ready to go to Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione both objected to the idea of block because it was known to cause discomfort for the child. Instead they decided to use a limiting charm to reduce the chance of accidental magic, but the charm only lasted thirty days before it needed to be recast. When it came to casting important magic on the children, Hermione insisted she be the one to do it. There was always a doubt that Harry's more powerful spells might cause unanticipated problems so he wasn't allowed to cast the limiting charm.

May's eyes widened. "No, I don't remember," she stammered as she suddenly realized what was happening. "I'll ask Trath to ask her. You think this is the kids doing?"

Harry nodded, "It appears that way. I first thought it was Sirius, but this is too advanced for Sirius."

"See? I told you I had nothing to do with it," Sirius said smugly then he realized what Harry had said. "Hey now!"

Harry glanced at Sirius and scowled, "No you might be innocent for once, but you are still going to have to explain to Hermione where her babies got their hands on Lucky Charms. You know how she feels about that cereal."

It was well known throughout the Weyr that Sirius was addicted to the stuff and had managed to pass that addiction to his daughter Kirstin. For a while the cereal hadn't been available in the UK, but Sirius had arranged for some to be shipped in via Condron Weyr in the United States.

"Their magically delicious!" Sirius protested, "It says so right on the box." Sirius pulled his wand and instantly conjured an empty Lucky Charms box and pointed to the cover. It would have been an impressive gesture had Sirius not conjured the box upside down.

Harry shook his head and turned back to Starth. He placed a hand on the dragon's neck. "Relax Starth, this won't hurt a bit. Finite," he said. The stars faded from the dragon.

"Stars!" shouted little Daniel. Harry sucked in a breath as the stars reappeared on the dragon. He turned to stare at the now giggling toddler. He clearly felt the rush of magic from his son.

"Pretty!" Mary added emphatically. The stars on Starth brightened and seemed to twinkle and she laughed in delight.

"Now that is not accidental magic," Sirius said snidely.

Harry looked back at him. "Don't you have something better to do?" He sourly asked the former marauder. Harry, Hermione and May had been arguing for the past two months over whether or not the magic the child were showing was accidental or deliberate. Now it was clear that it was deliberate.

"Nope, I'm good. Besides, I don't need to leave until Hermione shows up and she's busy with that guy from that Italian company, Agip."

Harry sighed and shook his head, then he turned back to Janice. "Its not dangerous, but I'm afraid we're going to have to wait until Hermione can cast the limiter before I end the spell."

Janice, being a muggle didn't fully understand, "So you can fix her later?"

"_I like my stars,"_ Starth said.

"_I don't, this isn't dignified,"_ Tigth added unhappily. Harry privately agreed with Tigth, there was just something wrong with a tigger stripped dragon. Harry was just grateful that Tigth's tail was normal and not spring shaped.

"_I don't mind my hearts,"_ Hearth added.

Harry could see the dragons were mixed in their opinions. Some liked the coloring, some didn't. "Look, if you and your rider want to keep them, I won't stop you, but I will fix any dragon that wants it."

"Look at it this way Harry, your kids could make a fortune opening up the worlds first dragon tattoo parlor!"

"Sirius Black!" exclaimed May. "My children will not run a tattoo parlor!"

Harry closed his eyes and bit back a groan while May and Sirius bickered about a future tattoo parlor.

"_Harry, Lee is asking about what he should tell the press? Several reporters saw the markings and are asking questions. Lee says the only cameras recording the event were ours so we don't have to worry about that,"_ Chekiath announced.

"Shit," Harry muttered.

"Harry!" exclaimed May. "Not in front of the children!"

"Isn't growing up fun?" Sirius asked. He had already learned his lesson about his vocabulary after his daughter picked up on some of his favorite adult sayings.

Harry resisted the urge to reach for his wand, barely. "Cheki, tell Lee that we are as surprised as they are and the Weyrhealers are looking into it. The only thing we know for certain is the hatchlings are not in any danger."

"_Of course Harry. Hermione is on her way and should be there shortly. One of her assistants is watching that guest of hers."_

"That's my cue to leave," Sirius said suddenly.

Harry smirked and cast a quick spell that stuck Sirius' shoes to the floor.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. He was frantically tugging at his leg.

Harry laughed. "Take your medicine now, or later Sirius, you know Katherine won't let you hide from her."

Hermione stopped in the open doorway and quickly took in the hatchlings with their unusual markings. Her eyes narrowed and she turned towards Sirius after having made the connection between the dragons and the breakfast cereal. "Sirius," she growled.

Sirius blanched and was about to protest when Hermione was nudged to one side. Luna looked around the room and smirked. "What a wonderful idea, I'll have to see if Danny and Mary like fruit loops," she exclaimed.

Hermione's mouth snapped shut and May shook her head in amusement. Even while he continued to tug at his feet Sirius started howling with laughter.

* * *

**Honningsvåg, Norway, 13:00 hours, August 15th 2009...**

Brith glanced over at the volunteers washing the fire engine. It was old, but lovingly maintained fire engine and still in service. Gleaming with red and shiney chrome is was the pride of the volunteers fire service in Honningsvåg.

Nearby two other dragons dozed on the tarmac in front of an ambulance module. It was their job to cover most of northern Norway and when it came to northern Norway, you didn't get much further north than Honningsvåg.

The two vehicles side by side were an extreme comparison of technology. The ambulance module was painted a bright yellow and white and bristled with antennas and state of the art technology. The fire truck was glistening with polished chrome and candy apple red, a product of the early seventies and still proudly doing its job.

Next to the fire station was a small shack for the ambulance crew which consisted of one rider, strangely dubbed 'the pilot', and two paramedics. A second rider manned the station as backup to the primary pilot and was bonded to one of the two other dragons that provided the lifting power to the ambulance module.

Nearby was an old, 1960s era ambulance that no longer saw service, the cracked engine block saw to that. The dragon ambulance station provided all ambulance service while the local community awaited the delivery of a more modern ambulance to replace the old one.

Brith wasn't attached to the ambulance service, she was part of Svartvatn's Weyr unbonded wing twelve, called 'the Bergers'.

Alfhild Gustavson, the Weyrleader for Svartvatn Weyr came up with the idea of the unbonded wings naming themselves as a means of giving a little extra cohesion to the wings. The Bergers were a group that patrolled the Barents sea and the arctic ocean looking for icebergs and helping when rescues were needed. The wing had made a name for itself with the Norwegian Coast Guard when it was discovered that they weren't just reporting on icebergs in the shipping lanes, but they were also moving the larger ones out of the way.

Nerth came around the back of the crew shack and nodded in greeting to Brith. _"Another chilly day,"_ he offered. Brith knew that Nerth was younger than she was, and that he found her attractive. They hadn't had a shagging flight yet, but she was considering it.

"_Between is colder,"_ she replied, _"You came back sooner than I expected."_

"_It was an easy run, a small child had been injured in a car accident,"_ he said sadly. _"Our healers said it was alright to go Between to get the child to the hospital. It's always worse when it's a young one."_

It had been discovered that going Between when carrying someone with a brain injury would cause additional damage to the injury. As a result the paramedics had to give the dragons permission to go Between or fly straight through to the hospital. No one knew why it was so, but researchers around the world were lining up to find out why because it implied a connection between the brain and Between.

"_Are you flirting again?"_ asked Arkith, one of the Bergers.

"_You're just jealous that I can attract a young virile male like Nerth,"_ Brith replied loftily.

"_Bah, I like them experienced. You prefer robbing the egg for your mates,"_ Arkith replied. _"Skirth wants you to know we've located a heavy ice flow."_

"_Wait a second, let me tell Jhonni, he'll need those numbers from you,"_ Brith answered, then she turned to Nerth. _"Tell Jhonni that Arkrith has the location of a heavy ice flow, she'll need to alert the Coast Guard."_

Brith fell silent while she listened in on one side of Arkrith's conversation. She knew that Jhonni would soon be on the phone to the Coast Guard so they could issue the shipping warning. Four of the dragons were wearing GPS units attached to their front paw so they could know where the icebergs where. Dragons didn't really understand the idea of latitude and longitude but they did know the humans were capable of finding any spot on the planet with those numbers. It was a feat the dragons could not copy.

"There! Now the coast guard will issue their orders and we'll move some of these icebergs," Arkrith announced.

"_Do any of them have any seals on them? They are quite tasty,"_ Brith asked.

"_Some do, would you like me to get you one?"_

Brith's eyes twirled with large streaks of blue. _"Yes! Please!"_

"_Very well, I'll pick up one for you after..."_

Brith's head jerked upwards suddenly and she turned north, then reared up on her hind legs and bugled loudly in fear. Nerth and Fenth turned to Brith in confusion, they hadn't been listening into the conversation and didn't understand what was happening.

"_Weyrleader! Weyrleader! They are gone!"_ she shouted. Behind her, Nerth and Fenth finally realized that something terrible had happened and they lowered their heads to the ground and began to keen.

Several hundred miles to the south east, the dragons of Svartvatn Weyr erupted fear and grief. Within minutes every Weyr would know disaster has struck.

* * *

**Russian Ministry of Defense,** **16:00 hours, August 15****th**** 2009...**

"Minister?"

The Russian minister of defense looked up from the paper he was reading. "Yes?"

"General Sukov is holding for you on the secure line," his aide replied.

The minister arched a bushy eyebrow and smiled tightly, he had been waiting for this call. "Very well Colonel, I shall pick up the phone in a minute. In the meantime, you know the procedure."

The colonel nodded and exited the room. He locked the door and then flipped a switch on the wall that was supposed to activate anti-eavesdropping devices. A light lit in the Minister's office signalling the room was secure and he reached for the phone.

"General Sukov, I take it you have information for me?"

"Yes Minister, I have just spoken with Colonel Istanov via radio. He and his squadron are expected to land within the hour," he replied. "He reports that his mission went well, but he wasn't pleased with the performance of the missiles."

The Defense Minister frowned, those new missiles had cost Russia millions of rubles to develop. "Oh?"

"The Colonel reports of the twenty four aircraft, all but two managed to launch two missiles each. Two aircraft launched one missile, and are returning with one malfunctioning missile. Forty six missiles for nineteen targets and only twenty three missiles hit their targets.

"We don't know why the missiles malfunctioned but a fifty percent miss rate is troublesome. I have ordered those missiles to be examined immediately. I've also ordered the gun camera footage to be sent down here as soon as possible. I expect it to arrive at the air district headquarters in five hours. Give another day for our people to examine the footage and analyze the results I think I'll be able to give you a detailed report the day after tomorrow."

The minister frowned, but there was no way around it, it would take every analyst they had to examine the gun cameras from twenty four aircraft and put together an effectiveness report in less than two days.

"Very well General. Is there any reaction from the Weyr as yet?"

"No Minister, but I shouldn't expect any reaction for at least a few hours. We are monitoring the Norwegian new agencies closely since it's likely we'll see the first reactions there."

"Thank you General, I will see you the day after tomorrow with your report," the minister said, then he hung up the phone.

At the Moscow Air District headquarters, General Sukov slowly placed the phone on it's cradle, then he nodded to his aide to turn off the extra anti-eavesdropping devices. He stared at the phone for a long silent moment and an icy ball of worry formed in his stomach.

He looked up at his wife who was pregnant with their child. "Why do I feel like this is a colossal mistake Irina? We stand on the brink of a cliff and I fear we have jumped badly. These dragons will not respond like another country would, I fear they will react in a way we cannot predict. Unpredictability in an enemy is a dangerous thing."

"But you often caution that predicting your enemy's moves is the ultimate folly," she replied with a smile.

Irina frowned when she saw her comment made in jest had no impact on her, it was very unlike her general to doubt himself so deeply. She placed a hand on the barely noticeable bump in her belly and shivered. "It will be alright Iskady, you will make it so."

_Will I?_ He thought to himself. _Perhaps, but I have a child on the way. I should make a plan in case things go the way I feel they may._

**The Orbit of Saturn, August 15th 2009...**

The Egg popped out of Between upon a vista that no living human had ever witnessed personally. This was the deepest space location Ronan felt he could safely convince anyone to allow. As it was he had to agree to a passenger for this particular trip, not that he minded. Mildred Lupin had been a considerable help to the Weyr's efforts and he could use her expertise to check out the newly installed science package.

The science package was something Mildred Lupin had put together and Ronan just wasn't qualified to handle any problems that might arise when they used it. Ronan was a very competent engineer, but some of these instruments had been designed by Mildred and only she knew how to test them properly.

Comprised of four high definition multi-spectrum cameras plus four other additional instruments tied to a central computer, the science package was perfect for the Jupiter orbit mission. It was the culmination of work done by the students visiting Minnewanka Weyr. Only the student riders knew that the package might someday see real use.

This particular mission was designed to test the endurance of the lift team as well as to stress test the environmental capabilities of the egg.

Ronan glanced at the jump timer and frowned. The unit was accurate to eight decimal places and there was still no noticeable increase in the time required to jump Between. The timer was triggered by a highly sensitive light detector so that it started as soon as it detected the jump into Between and stopped on exit.

"I don't understand it," he said in annoyance.

When he didn't hear a reply he turned to his co-pilot. She was practically plastered to the view port in front of her duty station. Tears slowly pooled in the corner of her eyes, then broke away to float in the cabin.

"Damn," he muttered, then he flipped a switch which started several air scrubbers working. "Mildred, get a hold of yourself, you're leaking water into the cabin!"

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. "Relax," he said more softly. She blinked and looked at him in surprise. "You were crying."

He pointed towards the intake vents and she could see several blobs of tears moving towards them.

She flushed and nodded, then she pulled out some tissue and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just that I dreamed of a moment like this since I was a little girl."

"Its alright, but I would rather not have to report a short circuit due to an emotional co-pilot," he replied with a grin.

Mildred nodded and pulled out a clipboard from under her seat. "Right then, let's go over the checklist shall we?"

Ronan pulled his own clipboard from the velco fasteners under his seat and set it floating lazily nearby.

"We are still showing no measurable change to the jump time," he said, pointing at the jump timer.

Mildred shook her head, that device was one of the best money could buy. "There's got to be a variance," she muttered. This was issue that was starting to question some of her fundamental beliefs. On earth it was assumed that the time Between represented the speed of the transit, but now it was looking as if it weren't the case.

"Not according to our super clock," Ronan said with a bit of a grin.

She flashed a look of irritation at him because he had been arguing that the dragon's ability to teleport was circumventing Einstein's Relativity. It had become a point of many intense conversations between the pair in recent weeks.

To Mildred, a classical astronomer and cosmologist, Between was quickly becoming a major headache to her, especially when she vented her frustration on a rider who invariably told her to ask the dragons about it.

"Look at it this way Mildred, you'll be able to write a paper explaining to all those stuffy scientists that they were wrong in their assumptions," he replied with a chuckle, then he grabbed his clipboard and started going over his list.

Mildred stared at him for a long moment, then she shook her head. Ronan didn't understand that writing a paper refuting Relativity would be professional suicide. She shook her head and turned to her own clipboard. She had her own checklist to go over, including a bank of ultra hi resolution multi spectrum cameras to play with.

Several hours passed in comfortable silence. The Egg wasn't in radio contact with Earth and even if it had been it would have taken hours to establish communications. They relied on the dragon's telepathy to communicate with the Weyr. Mildred shied away from the concept that telepathy was also apparently faster than light, it was another strike against relativity that had her cringing.

Pushing relativity to the back of her mind for now, she expertly operated the external bank of cameras while Ronan monitored the on-board systems. By the time she had a chance to review her data she would have accumulated over five terra-bytes of images of Saturn and it's rings.

This was the third test of the official Egg One. The test capsules had been retired in favor of this first Egg. It wasn't quite as big as it was originally planned, but it could comfortably accommodate six people with ample living space if people slept in shifts.

There was a loud whooshing sound and Ronan glanced upwards. A nearby gauge showed which breathing bay had been used. There were three dragons providing lifting service for this trip. Three dragons was all that was really needed, but the Egg had bays for an additional two extra dragons.

"How are we doing Gar?" he asked aloud. Garanoth, as the lift team leader, had his own checklist of tasks, including practicing disengaging from the Egg and then using micro-jumps Between to reengage. The dragons had been trained to perform visual inspections of the exterior of the Egg and alert the human crew if there were any problems.

As lift team leader, Garanoth also had the responsibility to return the capsule to Earth without asking Ronan's permission. He was in charge of the lift team and responsible for the safety of the passengers. Should an emergency arise, he would command the lift team to return to the Weyr immediately. The large dragon didn't like that idea, and had to be ordered by Harry, but once it was explained to him, he accepted it.

Ronan and his design group were still working on improving what the dragons could do to effect any repairs, but so far they were limited to patching of any holes. The design group had created a set of tools that the dragons could use, but they discovered that just because it fit in a dragon paw, it didn't mean they could easily use them.

The design group went back to the drawing board and were working on powered versions of the hand held tools that could be controlled by the new gloves the dragons wore.

"_These gloves are much better Ronan,_" replied the dragon. "_Its not as cold as the other gloves, and the controls are easier to activate._"

The gloves were part of a special suit each dragon wore. Unlike the rest of the suit, the gloves were actually a carbon composite gauntlet that connected to the Egg for power and data connections. The dragons were capable of disconnecting the gauntlets from the Egg so they could move about the egg performing maintenance and inspections. The gloves also contained sensors and power connections so that someday they could do more than just hang on.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then, "_The air still smells funny Ronan,_" announced Pekith, one of the members of the dragon lift team.

Mildred tore her gaze from one of the monitors. "I'm sorry Pekith, but you're breathing a mix of pure gases that simulates real air. It's going to smell different because it lacks a lot of the impurities that give Earth air a different smell. Is it going to be a problem?"

"_No Starsmith, it just smells off, like a stale fart with a hint of fish,_" replied the dragon.

"_A stale fart and fish! That describes it perfectly,"_ exclaimed Garanoth.

Ronan winced and pretended to be absorbed in his checklist while Mildred shook her head in dismay. All three dragons were chortling merrily thanks to Pekith's imagery.

Mildred tried to ignore the dragon amusement while she tapped a few keys to bring up a display that monitored the amount of oxygen in the dragon's blood. It was normal, so Pekith's complaint was fairly minor if a bit graphic. She wondered if she should record the dragon's comment about the air smell or not. The gas mixture was correct, even if it might smell bad and the design group's action committee might have problems with an action item describing the smell of the air mix as akin to a stale fart with a hint of fish.

Mildred nodded and gave Ronan a reassuring smile before turning her attention back to the camera monitors. Ronan shook his head in amusement. He had invited Mildred to join him on this mission as a way of bribing her. He needed her permission as lead space scientist to DSL to undertake any mission beyond Earth orbit and traveling to Saturn was definitely beyond Earth orbit.

"Lift team, how are the flight suits working?" asked Ronan.

"_Just fine Ronan,_" replied Garanoth.

"_I think I need a little adjusting,_" Pekith announced. "_The rear right leg seems to be a little loose, but the heating spell is working fine._"

Ronan looked up and then quickly jotted down a note on his clipboard. The thermal suits for the dragons were extremely important even if they weren't made by his design group.

"_Mine is fine,_" announced Duckth.

Extended exposure to space resulted in chilling the dragons. Millicent Bulstrode discovered that the dragons could only stand an hour exposure to the cold of space before they became lethargic. She struggled to find a solution when Luna gave her a knitted sweater that had been enchanted to provide heat. It was a coincidence that turn out to be the answer to Millicent's problem.

Thanks to Luna's sweater, the dragon's were now capable of staying in space as long as necessary. Specially made thermal suits that were enchanted to provide heat and magically sized, provided the dragons with the needed heat and allowed for additional sensors to be added to monitor the dragon's health. The only real downside was that it took an hour and six riders to assist the dragon into getting into and out of the suit.

"I'll have your suit looked at when we get back Pekith," Ronan replied. "It shouldn't take long to adjust it."

"_Thank you Ronan._"

Ronan nodded and glanced at a screen. He tapped a key and the next item on his checklist came up.

"_Jupiter is very pretty, are you sure we can't go there?_" asked Duckth.

Mildred smiled slightly. "I wish," she murmured then she shook her head and knew she had to explain it further or the dragons might take her comment literally. "No Duckth, Jupiter is a very dangerous place for humans and dragons. We are much safer here. The Egg is just not designed for the environment of Jupiter. Someday however, I know we'll want to visit some of the moons.

"Jupiter is so large that we would be crushed by the enormous pressures well before we reached the center of the planet."

"_So we really can't go there?_" Duckth pressed.

"No I'm afraid not," replied Mildred.

"_Its still pretty,_" observed Duckth, "_but maybe we should find a nicer place to land on._"

Ronan laughed softly and glanced over at Mildred. She was living her dream and no amount of explaining was going to convince the dragons that this was a good spot to run her tests. Mildred had gotten permission of Harry to reveal the scope of their exploration once they had perfected all of the Egg systems. Ronan had a schedule of tests which meant that Mildred had roughly a year to write up her research and submit it for publication.

Ronan glanced back at his screen and then turned to a console behind him. He examined the display for a moment and frowned. "The internal air pressure in the waste disposal system is low," he muttered, then he glanced at a secondary console and tapped a gauge. The system used pressurized air to vent waste into space rather than storing it onboard.

"Is it a problem?" asked Mildred.

Ronan reached for a large book and started flipping through it. "I don't think so, it's only a few psi off, but it shouldn't be happening. I'll log it and have someone look at it when we return."

He reached for his clipboard and made a quick notation so his people could look into it when they got home.

"_Ronan, I am getting an emergency recall message from The Weyrleader,"_ Garanoth suddenly announced. _"It's not directed to us specifically, but he's ordering all dragons world wide to return to their Weyrs immediately."_

Ronan blinked in surprise, then he looked up at the ceiling. Nearby Mildred sucked in a shocked breath. "So he's not calling for us?"

"No, The Weyrleader is calling in all the wings. Right now he's speaking to all the Weyrs, telling them to recall all their members. Nakth is very angry. Campbeltown and the other Weyrs are sending out combat patrols."

Ronan looked worriedly over at Mildred. "Nakth is Alfhild's dragon, from Svartvatn Weyr in Norway. Something must have happened at Svartvatn Weyr."

Mildred sighed and started shutting down her cameras and making sure the digital files were saved. "I guess its time to go home."

Ronan grunted sourly at the idea of cutting the mission short hours ahead of schedule, then he glanced out the window again. Maybe someday we can land on one of these alien worlds, he thought to himself. For a split second an image from Harry's office flashed through his mind.

Distracted by the abrupt end of the mission he passed the wrong jump image to Garanoth.

Campbeltown's Egg vanished from the orbit of Jupiter.

* * *

**Svartvatn Weyr, August 15th 2009...**

Harry and Chekiath appeared over the Weyr and was surprised to see so many dragons flying about bellowing in distress and anger.

"Silence!" Harry bellowed aloud and mentally. Chekiath added a deep barking sound to back up Harry's command. _"All Svartvatn dragons are to land immediately!"_

"Where is Nakth?" he asked.

Chekiath watched the dragons landing, then he zeroed in on Nakth. _"There, we will land next to them."_

Harry followed Chekiath's gaze to see Alfhild Gustavson waving at him. Harry was mildly annoyed to see Alfhild had lost control of his Weyr, but then no other Weyr had lost nineteen dragons before. He wasn't sure he could maintain control in such a situation.

"Let's land then Cheki, and call up Division One and Two. I want some more dragons here," Harry replied.

Cheki banked hard and Harry leaned with the turn. _"The divisions are on the way Harry."_

Chekiath landed near Nakth and then he looked pointedly at the Weyrleaders dragon. Harry slid down from his spot and dropped lightly to the ground, then he pulled off his gloves and cap. Nakth looked away from Cheki's stern gaze and Harry turned to his dragon. "Go easy Cheki, they've had a big shock and I honestly don't know how well we'd react if the same thing happened to us."

Cheki turned back to gaze at his rider. _"I will Harry, but I expect our Weyrleader dragons to maintain discipline."_

Harry nodded, "Alright, but just remember they've had a shock like nothing we've experienced before," he said, then he turned to Alfhild.

"All the Weyrs share your grief Alf," he said quietly. "I will be calling for the other Weyrleaders to meet here, but first I think we need to figure out what happened."

Alfhild wiped at his eyes and straightened up, his expression grew determined. "You don't just lose nineteen dragons as a result of an accident," he declared.

"No, you don't Alf, and when we know who was responsible, the Weyrs will make them pay," Harry replied. "But we can't go off attacking without knowing who to attack."

Harry clasped a hand on Alf's shoulder and lightly shook him. Alf nodded unhappily, his grief was turning into anger that he wanted to unleash, but Harry was right, he needed to know who was responsible.

"We have a rough idea of where they were, but I have been reluctant to send any of our wings out," Alf admitted.

Harry glanced around knowingly, Svartvatn Weyr was in deep mourning, the dragons were in no shape to go out on search missions. He turned back to Alfhild questioningly.

"They had just reported in with an iceberg warning. They couldn't have gone too far from that area," Alfhild admitted.

Harry turned to Cheki, "Call up Division three and have them equipped with GPS units. The missing wing had just called in an iceberg warning to..."

"Nerth's rider Jhonni up in Honningsvåg should have the coordinates," Alfhild said softly. Harry glanced to Cheki who nodded.

"Lets go into your office to talk Alf," Harry suggested.

For the next eight hours Harry and Alfhild poured over maps and discussed possibilities. They waited while Chekiath organized more than five hundred dragons from Campbeltown and Svartvatn to scour the area around the Bergers last reported location.

Their only break in their discussion came when a group of dragons brought home a body, some six hours into their search.

Harry and Alfhild rushed from the Weyr office and ran over towards the dragon infirmary. The two Weyrleaders arrived just as a group of four dragons gently laid a dead dragon down on the grass next to the infirmary building.

Harry fought the urge to vomit, several others around him weren't so lucky. Something had hit the dragon in the head and literally destroyed it. The dragon's head was gone and the neck was shredded all the way up to the front shoulder blades. The absolute savagery of the attack meant the poor dragon was killed instantly and never had a chance to jump Between.

Harry was surprised, he was certain the dragons would start keening again, but even the dragons were shocked into silence.

It started slowly, but Harry instantly knew who was doing it. He turned towards his dragon as other picked up on the alpha dragon's mood. Chekiath was growling, his eyes burned bright red and steam wafted up from his nostrils. Around him the other dragons took up the growl. Someone had murdered dragons and they were angry.

Harry hurriedly ran to his dragon and pulled his head until the pair were staring each other down. "Chekiath! Hear me, I promise you that this crime will not go unpunished. But now is not the time for anger. We must act with deliberation and reason, we must punish those that committed this crime and make sure we don't hurt others at the same time!"

Chekiath's eyes started to slow and some of the red bled away. _"Deliberation and reason. We are thinking beings."_ he said slowly.

"Yes, you are Cheki," May said softly. "Even humans can let their emotions get away from them. Harry promised you justice and he'll need your help to see justice is served."

Harry glanced over at his wife in surprise. She had been in the infirmary helping out Svartvatn during this crisis.

Chekiath lowered his head as if ashamed with himself. _"I will control myself better,"_ he said softly.

Harry turned back to his dragon and gently rubbed his eye ridges. "Big lug, you have nothing to be ashamed about. I'm as angry as you are."

The red in Cheki's eyes faded away to be replaced with a very light blue.

"Harry, Draco found something near the body that you and Alf need to see," May said.

"Do we know who this is?" Alf asked.

May frowned and shook her head. "Not yet. Obviously this was a Swedish Short Snout but the wing had four Short Snouts. There's no head so we can't check the dental record and we still don't know enough about dragon DNA to do DNA identification. We're going to have to take a set of paw prints and do a manual check against the Weyr records. Katie and Phillipa are setting up for that now."

Phillipa Jurdsdottir was one of the Svartvatn Weyr healers.

Harry placed a hand on Alf's shoulder. "Come on Alf, let them do their job. Let's see what Draco has for us."

Alf nodded and followed Harry to where Draco stood patiently. At Draco's feet lay a long object that was covered by a blanket.

Harry frowned and looked down. "Another body?" he asked a bit fearfully, this was about as long and wide as a human.

Draco shook his head. "No, I just didn't want anyone else to see this yet Harry."

Harry knelt down and lifted the blanket. He swore sulfurously. Under the blanket lay a missile with Russian markings. The front part of the missile showed damage where the warhead had been. The blood and pieces of flesh still clinging to the missile said that it had speared a dragon before exploding. The very fact that it had exploded inside the body of a dragon probably preserved the rest of the missile from being destroyed beyond recognition.

"What is that?" exclaimed Alfhild.

"It's a Russian missile Alf, what kind, I can't tell, but I aim to find out," Harry said flatly.

"Cheki, ask Lee to come here and bring one of his high definition cameras," Harry said, then he turned to Alf. "I'll have Lee photograph that thing, but you'll probably need to keep it for the Norwegian authorities."

He paused and took a deep breath. "Alf, the Norwegians might want to take the lead on this, but you are the Weyrleader of Svartvatn Weyr, this incident was carefully set up to occur in international waters. The Norwegians have no jurisdiction here, no one does. And that means it's our problem."

Alf nodded firmly. "I will inform the government that we will be scaling back all operations that might lead to being in international airspace Harry. We can't really cut back on our search and rescue efforts, or the ambulance service."

Harry smiled in agreement. "No you can't cut back on them, but from here on we'll provide far more dragons than needed. I want to make sure someone is always watching your dragons."

Harry expression turned grim. "Alf," he added in a serious tone, "Svartvatn Weyr is authorized to use deadly force in order to protect the Weyr, your riders and your dragons."

Alf's eyes widened, then he nodded. "I best talk to my second then," he replied softly. He turned walked over the corpse of the dragon and placed a hand upon it for a moment, then he straightened and went about his business.

Harry watched him for a moment, then he gathered his power.

"_Dragons,"_ he called. His voice carried around the planet stopping every dragon in their tracks. _"A terrible crime has been committed against our kind. We will find out who caused the death of so many dragons and we will see justice done. For now every dragon is to be vigilant. Nineteen of our brothers were caught by surprise, that cannot happen again. Set up extra patrols over your Weyrs, no dragon should venture away from the Weyr alone. If attacked, call for help immediately and use every ability you have to ensure your survival, kill if necessary._

"_Senior dragons, if you are unsure of what you can do, contact me and Campbeltown will send help to your weyr."_

Harry released his power and took a deep shuddering breath. He turned to see Lee snapping away at the missile with a digital SLR camera.

"Lee, when you're done, use Svartvatn's network to send those images to Katherine at Campbeltown, ask her if that's something that can be bought on the black market or not. Then I want you and your wing to get out where they found the body to take more photographs, search the area carefully, you might find more evidence like that," he said, then gestured towards the missile. _Or another body,_ he thought morosely.

Lee nodded grimly, he had the same idea as Harry. He turned back to his task, already thinking about what they might find.

Harry glanced around. "Where the hell is Ronan?"

Lee looked up from lining up a shot and shrugged. "I haven't seen him, but wasn't supposed to be on an Egg mission today?"

Harry nodded and turned in the direction of his dragon. "Cheki can you ask Garanoth to return to the Weyr?"

"_We did much earlier Harry, and Garanoth said he was returning right away."_

The icy knot in Harry's belly suddenly turned much colder. It wasn't like Ronan to ignore a summons like this. _"Garanoth?"_ he sent.

Silence.

"_I can't reach him,"_ Neruth suddenly shouted.

Harry gasped and nearly fell to his knees, Neruth's shout surprised him. "Damn it this is all we need," he muttered. _"Comaloth, tell Hermione that something has happened to Ronan. Have someone check in on Karen."_

Harry's mind shuddered back from the implications. If something had happened to the egg, he would have to tell Remus. He had agreed to allow Mildred to go along with Ronan on this test mission.

"_She's already with her and the healer is on her way. Several of the girls from Division five and Hermione's mother are also here."_ Comaloth replied. Hermione had missed going to Svartvatn because she was in court at the time. With court adjoined for the day she returned to Campbeltown as quickly as she could so she could help with the crisis from that point.

Harry nodded unhappily. Karen was pregnant with their third child which explained why they called for Isaac Sheppard.

Harry walked over to the body and said a silent prayer for the dragon. As he did a helicopter started to land near Svartvatn's two ambulance modules. He looked up briefly and noted it was a police helicopter, then he turned and walked over to where May stood.

She looked up from watching Katie take a paw print and frowned. Harry looked worn down. She knew about the problems facing the Weyrs and wished there was a way she could ease his burden.

"_Weyrleader, Hermione says that the Egg just landed near the infirmary, all three dragons are tired but fine. Ronan and Mildred are fine also. Ronan wants to talk to you as soon as possible," _Comaloth suddenly announced. _"He's coming to Svartvatn."_

"I want to talk to him too, about exhausting three dragons and probably scaring his wife to death," he muttered a touch angrily.

"Harry," May gently chided. "You don't know what happened."

He sighed and nodded slowly. _"Comaloth is Garanoth capable of coming here?"_

"_He is tired Weyrleader, but still capable of making the jump."_

Harry suppressed the urge to curse with May nearby, there was little he could do about it and he knew Ronan would not deliberately endanger his dragon unless it was very important. Harry gave May a weak smile, then he turned and walked over to where Alf was talking with several uniformed men that had arrived via the helicopter.

Just as he arrived Garanoth appeared in the darkening sky. Even in the twilight he could see the gray tinge to the large dragon.

"_Nakth,"_ Harry sent silently, _"Ronan has arrived on Garanoth who is obviously too tired to be flying. Can you put them up for the night?"_

"_We will be honored Weyrleader,"_ replied Nakth.

Satisfied, Harry turned back to Alf who had heard Harry's request via Nakth. Svartvatn would see Ronan and Garanoth well taken care of tonight.

Alfhild raise a hand and turned to Harry. The others looked at Harry in surprise. Harry wore the white beret of a Weyrleader, but the Weyr colors weren't Svartvatn's. "Chief Inspector Jurgeson, may I introduce you to The Weyrleader of Campbeltown Weyr, Harry Potter."

The senior police officer looked surprised, then he offered Harry a hand. "An honor to meet you sir!" He exclaimed in a thick accent. "As I was explaining to the Weyrleader, the location of the attack occurred in international waters and while Norway does accept responsibility for that region in terms of search and rescue, or other maritime matters, we have no jurisdiction in that area. We will offer what services we can, but I'm afraid there is little the police can do. I will consult with the Coast Guard, but I fear they won't be able to help much either."

Harry nodded, he had expected as much given the location of the attack. He turned to Alfhild. "Alf, work with the Norwegians, but I don't want this to turn into a media circus. We need to keep a tight reign on this until we know what's going on."

Alf nodded and Harry turned away to talk to Ronan. After ten minutes of private conversation with Ronan he rejoined Alf who stood alone watching the police inspect and photograph the corpse of the one recovered dragon. Ronan stepped up beside him. "Harry," he said.

Harry glared at him. "I don't want to talk about it right now Ronan, we have enough problems. For the record you made a badly imaged jump and exhausted three dragons. That is what you'll tell anyone who asks, even your wife. No one is to know what happened on your trip until we have time to sort things out. We have more important matters to worry about right now," he said tensely. Alf watched in surprise as Harry spoke to Ronan. "For the record gentlemen, when we discover who did this, the Weyrs are going to war."

"But we know who did this, you said it yourself Harry!" exclaimed Alf. "The Russians."

"I know that, but we have to be able to prove it," Harry snapped. "The world is not going to sit back and watch the dragons attack any nation without proof that we are defending ourselves. Right now we need proof and we need time to plan what we're going to do. Our greatest danger is that they will attack one of the Weyrs and catch us on the ground and surprised. Joensuu is the most exposed Weyr that is manned, but there are several others that are also close to hostile nations. We can't assume Russia is going to act alone. What we need most of all is time to plan what our response is going to be."

Harry paused and wiped at his face tiredly. "Ronan, have Garanoth tell Neruth you're spending the night here and you'll be back in the morning. I'm returning to Campbeltown. Alfhild, send an email to every Weyrleader, explain what happened and warn them to be extra vigilant."

Alf nodded solemnly and Harry turned and walked to where Chekiath stood waiting. Ronan sighed and shook his head. "When it rains it pours," he muttered.

Alf chuckled softly. "Come Ronan, I'll show you to one of our guest cabins."

* * *

**Campbeltown Weyr, August 15th 2009...**

Lord Mills stepped into the office of Major Atkins. She glanced up from her computer monitor and waved him closer. "James, thank god, you've got to get in touch with the PM."

James blinked in surprise, he had received a text message on his phone to come to the Weyr as soon as possible, so he had, but he had no idea what was going on.

Atkins was in the process of printing out a series of photographs. She was in her final year with the British Army and when she left she would transition to a consulting position for the Weyrs on security matters officially partnering with Sirius and Draco who already handled setting up newly manned Weyr security.

"What ever is the matter Katherine? The entire Weyr is acting up."

Katherine stood and collected a handful of printouts and handed them to James. "You don't know the half of it, we have nineteen dead dragons up in Svartvatn Weyr. Every Weyr on the planet has doubled, or tripled patrols and Harry's given them permission to use deadly force if attacked. Harry wants to know if those," she said, pointing at the photographs in James' hands, "can be bought on the black market or if only Russia uses them."

James glanced down at the photographs and even to his eye he could see the missile in question was not a hand launched missile, it was too big for that even if the warhead section was missing. He frowned when he considered the implications. The Weyr had had cordial relations with Tony Blair and John Major, but the current PM, David Cameron was cool to the Weyr and their issues. Only the fact that the public and the crown were firmly behind the Weyr kept the current Prime Minister from trying to enforce more controls on them.

Harry was aware of the issue and had done his best to keep out of the PM's way for the most part, but even the press had twigged on the fact that things weren't as cordial as they could be between the Weyr and the Prime Minister's office.

Cameron would not like it if the Weyr upset any apple carts internationally and James could see this had apple cart written all over it.

"When is Harry due back?"

Katherine glanced at the clock, then shrugged. "I'm not sure, I haven't heard anything directly from our Wings since Lee sent that email. I understand they are making an intensive sweep of the area looking for more evidence beyond what they have already found so it might be a while still. I'm going to forward these photographs to someone I know in the MOD, but I understand you'll need to take copies to the Prime Minister," she replied.

James glanced down at the photographs and then up to Katherine again. "Found? What else have they found?"

"Norendrath says they found the body of a Swedish Short Snout. The head was blown clear away. The poor dragon probably died instantly," Katherine said quietly. The thought of a dragon dying like that filled her with a cold anger. She wished her company were outfitted with their battle kits and they were ready to assault the people that did this. Like so many that lived and worked around the dragons, she had long since lost any distinction between human and dragon. To Katherine, dragons were people, and it angered her to know someone had killed not just one, but a whole wing of dragons.

"They may still find more evidence, or more bodies. Meanwhile every Weyr in the world is on alert. Patrols are doubled and every rider is carrying their weapons and ammo loads; if someone so much as looks at a Weyr, there's going to be trouble. Also Harry has ordered all the dependents and in-Weyr employees to be prepared to evacuate if necessary."

James grunted sourly in agreement. "Very well, I'd best arrange transportation down to London."

"I'm sorry Norendrath isn't here or he'd probably take you down there but he's with Sirius up in Svartvatn."

James nodded. "No matter, in times like this I can order up a military ride. I'll be there in an hour or two."

James walked towards the door, then he paused. "If conditions change, or they find more evidence, text me please Major."

Katherine nodded and James walked out of the office. She sighed and turned back to her computer. She had an email to write.

An hour later she got a call saying that Harry had returned to Campbeltown with several wings. She stood and left her office.

She finally found Harry in the kitchen hall, huddled over a large mug of tea. Hermione and May sat with him, as did most of Division one and two. The hall was crowded for such an unusual hour, and very quiet. Katherine sat down across from the three. The mood in the room was charged with tension.

Harry looked up from his mug. "Hello Katherine, did Lee send you those photographs?"

"The missile is codenamed Archer by NATO, and it's presently part of the current inventory of the Russian Air Force. From what I've been and I imagine you've figured out, this is an aircraft fired missile. It's way too big for it to be a shoulder or hand launched missile. The Russians have this in their inventory, but they have also sold this to other nations," she offered.

"So there's no definite proof it was Russia," May murmured.

Harry nodded grimly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that May. Granted, there's no real proof but a great many of the countries that have purchased those missiles are too far away from the Arctic ocean," Katherine countered.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "It's still no good, we all know it was a Russian hand firing that missile, but like I told Alfhild tonight, without proof the world will not stand by idly and watch us attack Russia."

Katherine nodded, she had figured that out too.

* * *

**The Special Committee for State Security, Moscow, August 18th 2009...**

"Friends, this special meeting has been called by our good Defense Minister," Putin announced.

The Defense Minister stood slowly, his many medals clinking softly. "Comrades, three days ago General Sukov's special operations squadron executed an attack over the arctic ocean. I have asked him to attend this meeting so he could explain the operation personally."

The minister sat and waved to an aide who opened the door allowing General Sukov to enter the room.

Sukov saluted and waited until Putin nodded in acknowledgment. "You may begin your brief General," Putin said.

Sukov glanced over at the Defense minister's aide who dimmed the lights in the room. A small screen slid down from the ceiling. "Comrades, on 15 August Squadron 1 of the Special Operations Unit executed an attack against a wing of dragons over the Arctic ocean. The dragons were supposedly on iceberg patrol."

An image from a gun camera appeared on the screen showing several dragons in the distance. "The squadron managed to get surprise on the dragons, closing to within two miles before launching a total of forty six missiles. All nineteen dragons were killed within four seconds of each other. The majority jumped Between, but a few were killed instantly, their bodies falling into the ocean below."

The screen echoed Sukov's words as a pair of missiles streaked out from the aircraft to strike the nearest dragon. In the image it was possible to see two other dragons hit by missiles fired from other aircraft.

"What is the reaction of the Weyr? I've heard nothing on the news from this," exclaimed the Foreign minister.

"No, there hasn't been any reports in the western press about this. I personally think the Weyr has imposed a news blackout on the attack. We have noted heightened security around the Weyrs, including larger patrols and all of the riders are now armed with their crossbows, even for trivial trips to a local market."

The members of the committee chuckled at the thought of such weapons not understanding the abilities of the ammo used by the Weyrs.

"Comrades, Colonel Istinov raised some concerns with the new mark six warheads that we are examining, and he rightly points out that one successful operation does not mean we have won a conflict with these beasts. The special operations squadron is improving every day and this successful test says that we are on the right track. But..."

"But?" pressed Putin.

Sukov looked uncomfortable. "I understand that we were supposed to be working with others... other countries. If we are to succeed, then we must plan together. Our forces are stronger if we can work with our allies."

The foreign minister nodded thoughtfully, "General Sukov speaks wisely friends. It is time to bring our Saudi friends into our plans." The minister turned to Sukov, "Iskady Stepanovich, tell us, are your men ready?"

"I believe we are Minister, but if we are to work with allied nations I would like several months to work up coordinated attack plans, maybe do some joint field exercises," Sukov replied.

"An excellent suggestion," the defense minister replied. "Have your office work up a list of needs and I'll see it's passed to the Foreign Ministry."

The Foreign Minister nodded. Putin checked a calendar. "So we are talking about sometime early next year?"

Sukov nodded hopefully. He had two squadrons trained up, and another twenty pilots dispersed to the rest of the air force as trainers. The air force was shaping up nicely as far as he was concerned. Some time to train with their allies would be an added bonus, plus it would give the engineers a chance to examine the missile problems. Given a fifty percent success rate, he was figuring it would require at least two missiles per dragon to guarantee a kill.

He hoped it was just a quality problem in assembly and not something more problematic like a design flaw.

"Very well, we will meet again in January to discuss when to start our action against these creatures. In the meantime General Sukov will coordinate with our Saudi friends," Putin decided, then he turned to Danakov who had been silently watching everything. Danakov knew that Russia was at a critical point. Actions against the dragons could result in magical reprisals also.

"Mishka, can your people organize a deception?" Putin asked.

Danakov nodded. "I will put my people on it immediately Comrade President."

Putin nodded, then he turned back to Sukov. "You have done well General, you are dismissed with our thanks."

Sukov saluted smartly and left the room.

"Well then, since we are here, let us turn our attention to the domestic winter fuel production projections?" Putin asked.

The Energy minister nodded and passed around a sheet of papers for each minister to take.

* * *

**Number 10 Downing Street, August 18th 2009...**

Prime Minister David Cameron looked at the figures before him unhappily, then he finally looked up at his guests.

"This," he said, waving the piece of paper around, "is an estimate from my own office as to the impact the Weyr has on our own economy. I was against Major granting them autonomy and now it's come back to bite us. Twenty bloody percent! The Weyr can cripple us overnight if they knew about it!"

James Mills frowned. "Sir they already know about that, in fact their own people think the number is actually two percent higher. Nevertheless, they have no intention of hurting us or our economy."

Cameron glared at him and James held his gaze without flinching.

"Her Majesty agrees with Lord Mills' assessment," Prince Charles said from one corner of the room. The crown had been briefed on the situation in Norway and had sent the Prince as a personal envoy of the crown for this meeting.

Cameron hid his wince, he knew the Weyr actually had a higher approval rating than he did. He nodded weakly at Prince Charles, then he leaned back on his chair. "So what will they do?" he asked to the room in general.

"They will wait," James said firmly. "The Weyrs are on alert world wide, but they will wait until they have evidence they can present to the world and then they will act."

"Saudi Arabia all over again," said Admiral Stanhope, the first Sea Lord of the Royal Navy who was sitting in for the Minister of Defense who was away.

James shook his head. "Worse than Saudi Arabia. The Weyrleader is acutely aware that the Weyrs must have incontrovertible proof that they were attacked and by whom, before they can act. But once they have that proof, they will act and it will be unlike anything we saw in Saudi Arabia."

"What do you mean?" asked Prince Charles.

James looked at him, "Sir, I know Harry Potter. I don't know what he's planning, but I do know that the dragons exercised a lot of restraint in Saudi Arabia. There will be no such restraint shown this time."

Prince Charles nodded thoughtfully.

"So what are they doing in the meantime?" Stanhope asked.

James shrugged. "Mostly it's business as usual, but with a larger than usual dragon presence. Dragon Ambulances now have two to three dragons escorting them. Fishing expeditions that once had a handful of dragons now have a full wing. Hell that ferry that ran into engine troubles had forty dragons come to the rescue when in the past ten at most would have shown up. There have been a number of meetings of the Weyrleaders since the incident at Svartvatn, but I haven't been present for them. I can only surmise they are making plans."

"You can't blame them for being wary or for planning a response to another attack. And extra dragons isn't really a problem for anyone except the Weyr," Prince Charles said.

"The only thing really worrisome that I've seen is two drills that they've run. In the first drill, they managed to get the entire compliment of Campbeltown, all eleven hundred and seventeen dragons airborne in less than four minutes. Mind you, that included five hundred riders fully kitted out for combat."

"Lord I wish we could do that," Stanhope muttered. "And the second drill?"

"That was more worrisome," James admitted. "In just over two hours, they evacuated the Weyr and took most of their equipment with them. They didn't come back for nearly twelve hours. With the exception of a wing left behind for the ambulance service, the Weyr was emptied, even the non-riders went with them."

Cameron blinked surprise. "Where did they go?"

James shook his head. "I don't know and they aren't telling anyone."

Cameron rubbed his temples tiredly, Mills had just told him that twenty percent of the British economy can leave Britain's shores in less than three hours time. He looked over at Prince Charles.

"Alright I know you are here with a message from Her Majesty," he said.

Charles smiled thinly. The crown had no real authority these days, but there was a power still behind the crown even if it was rarely used. "Her Majesty believes that the Weyrs are among our staunchest supporters and as such they deserve our unreserved support. However Her Majesty also understands that Britain has international obligations which must be observed, such obligations might be in conflict with supporting our Weyr.

"The Crown believes that we should be cautious and try to maintain a position somewhere in the middle rather than picking a particular side. Her Majesty firmly believes the Weyrleader will act only if he has verifiable proof. She feels that if that happens and our siding with the Weyr would endanger Great Britain then our best recourse would be to remain nonaligned."

"She wants us to remain neutral? What if Potter takes off and attacks Russia?" exclaimed Cameron.

The Prince's expression grew frigid. "Have you forgotten the capabilities of dragons Prime Minister? All of the Russian nuclear weapons would be for naught if even one dragon survived," he said coldly.

"Capabilities?" Cameron asked in confusion.

James Mills shook his head in dismay. "Sir, if I may, the dragons have the ability to travel through time as well as teleporting about the planet. It was explained in the briefing documents you received when you took office. I wrote that briefing paper myself."

Cameron looked at Mills in astonishment, clearly he had not read the documents.

"So you see Prime Minister," the Prince said, "If we indulge the Weyr a bit, it is for good reason. They have boosted our economy immeasurably, Britain has taken a role on the world stage that we haven't seen since Queen Victoria. We are leading the world in sustainable Energy technology as well as the good will generated by the Weyr's humanitarian efforts. The Weyr has never forced us to do anything we wouldn't have done, and all they have ever asked in return was our respect and friendship.

"If our respect and friendship is what keeps the Weyr from jumping back one hundred years and rewriting our entire history, then it's a small price to pay."

The Prince held up a hand to stay James from speaking. "Yes my Lord, I do agree that the Weyrleader would never attempt such a thing under ordinary circumstances, but I have no doubt that should he be pressed hard enough, he would make such a jump in order to save his dragons."

James reluctantly nodded and leaned back on his seat.

"If they can travel through time, why didn't they do that to save those nineteen dragons?" asked the First Sea Lord.

"I can answer that," Mills said softly. "The Weyr commissioned a panel of theoretical physicists several years ago to work on a hypothetical problem. Harry wanted to know how much potential for radical change would occur from going back in time over a sliding scale ranging from one hour to weeks."

At the looks of confusion around the office, he chuckled. "I know, it's enough to give one a headache just thinking about it. But basically he wanted to know how much of an impact each jump could have. The scientists worked up a scale which basically said the greater the jump backwards, the greater the impact on the present. Jump back an hour and change something, and there's less of a global change than if you jumped back a year to change something. The further you go back, the greater chance there is that you will alter history from just a minor change.

"Mind you this is all theoretical, but Harry's taken it to heart. By the time the Weyrs understood what was happening at Svartvatn Weyr, too much time had passed for Harry to feel comfortable with jumping back to prevent it. Yes he could have saved those dragons, but he was afraid of what other changes might have happened because of it. I know for a fact that he was very unhappy with that decision. Conditions would have to be truly dire for Harry to decide that the risk of jumping back a century is worth it."

Mills straightened on his seat and looked at the Prime Minister. "Minister, the Weyrleader believes time travel to be as dangerous, if not more than nuclear weapons. He will not use it lightly and it's only by the grace of the almighty that we have a Weyrleader who has commanded the dragons to avoid using it unless the situation is truly dire."

James decided not to mention the time the Shetland Island Weyr hid in the past to avoid a Wizard culling team, the Prime Minister seemed rattled enough as it is.

Cameron leaned back on his chair and blew out a noisy breath. He had been looking for ways to bring the Weyr under control of the government and now he was being told that they could literally rewrite world history if they got pissed off enough.

He wiped tiredly at his face. "So what do we do?"

Everyone exchanged a look, then James shrugged. "Nothing," he said in reply.

"Nothing?" exclaimed Cameron.

"Nothing," James repeated. "The Weyr will look for their proof. Until they have that, they will do nothing other than being extra cautious. I know Harry enough to know that he'll make plans and wait for the Russians or whoever is behind this to make a mistake. After that?"

James shook his head. "I pity whoever is behind this. This is not going to be another Saudi Arabia, it's going to be a hundred times worse."

"Indeed, If Lord Mills is right then the Weyrs could alter the global situation." Stanhope said in agreement. "The Weyr significantly altered the balance of power in the Red Sea and they did it in less than a day. I shudder to think of what might happen should the dragons rise up against a nation."

Cameron nodded unhappily, then he glanced up at Prince Charles. He knew the man was really there to deliver a private message. He sighed and turned to the others. "Thank you for your input gentlemen I will do my utmost to remember them."

James and Stanhope filed from the office and he watched them go with no small amount of reluctance. He was about to receive a royal reaming and the only small grace was that it wasn't coming from Her Majesty directly. He had heard rumors about such 'discussions' leaving sitting Prime Ministers practically in tears.

* * *

**Lac Logipi Weyr, Kenya, October 5th 2009...**

"_That is the third plane this week,"_ Sorth said from the cover of her Weyr.

"_I know,"_ Dreth replied. _"You have spoken to the Weyrleader?"_

"_Yes, he is sending a wing to photograph the plane. Apparently they can tell a lot about the machine if they can see it."_

"_It is a shame that Chekiath couldn't use your image,"_ Dreth observed gently.

Sorth turned to look at her first consort. _"How would I know that I had bad eyesight? Everything always looked fuzzy to me I thought it was normal. Besides, the Weyrleader didn't want us to get too close and that plane flies higher than a rider can go."_

"_Will the Weyrhealer really make you wear glasses like some riders do?"_

Sorth rumbled with mirth. _"No, she called them contacts and they have to be special made."_

"_What are they in contact with? Is it like some kind of radio thing? That's for speaking, I saw the Weyrleader use one last time he was here. How can speaking help seeing?"_ Dreth asked seriously.

"_I don't know,"_ Sorth replied worriedly. It was a question she had wanted to ask, but hadn't. May had assumed Sorth knew and Sorth didn't want to appear ignorant in front of the Weyrhealer.

* * *

**Harry's office, Campbeltown Weyr, December 9th 2009...**

"People are asking questions," Ronan said softly.

"I know, but it doesn't matter. We just need to hold out for a while longer. How goes things on your end?" Harry replied.

Ronan sighed and plopped into a chair, "Tense. Karen knows I'm withholding information from her. I'm sure Remus knows something is up also. Are you sure I can't tell Karen?"

"Even Hermione and May don't know," Harry replied tensely. "I don't like keeping this from them anymore than you do. But if word leaked out it could change everything and get us into a state where our riders won't give us their best."

Ronan grunted sourly, "Well the Condron foundry is turning out stock steel by the ton. We're getting new shipments every other day. So far we've assembled seven units."

Harry raised an eyebrow, that was better than he thought. "Really? Where are you putting them?"

Ronan grinned, "Do you remember those chambers we hollowed that the goblins sent their children and old people to?"

Ronan was referring to the chambers made for the goblins to use when the Ministry of Magic attacked the goblin city.

Harry grinned in return. "Ah, excellent, no one thinks about them anymore." He opened his calendar and stared at it for a moment. "I know how hard you and your people have been working Ronan. If you think you can complete the remaining three units by the twentieth you can tell your people they can take off until the second of next month. Mind you, your riders may be needed, but since they haven't been combat training I don't really see us calling them up."

Ronan smiled broadly. "For time off my people will kill whoever you want."

Harry chuckled lightly. "I know the feeling, I feel like I'm juggling eggs here."

"Have you gotten anymore information out of the British?"

Harry scowled. "No, oh I can't blame James over that. The current Prime Minister was against our autonomy from the get go. While he's not exactly against us, he's not exactly for us either. I think our honeymoon with #10 Downing Street is finally over. It's not as bad as it was with that American Bush fellow, but I think that we'll find less cooperation from the Prime Minister's office than we've had in the past."

"So all we know is the Russians and the Saudis? No one else?"

"Just them," Harry admitted. "There is a chance of some South American countries joining in, but we're not certain."

"So that's why you have our South American Weyrs practicing evacuation drills? I had wondered about that," Ronan said.

Harry stood and walked over to his window that looked out on the Weyr. He had the advantage of having a front office in the building, and because it was a corner office, it had a better view than most. "What we need most of all is time," he said mostly to himself.

"You're not talking about time travel?" exclaimed Ronan.

Harry turned to him and shook his head. "No, we just need time for us to get all the pieces in place. I don't believe we'll have much time past the new year. Despite the reluctance of our friends in the Prime Minister's office, I've heard from some people in the Foreign office that Russia has been running some exercises that appear to include the Saudis. The Americans asked about it and the Saudis denied it of course. We just need time to finish our preparations."

"They are mostly on track Harry," Ronan reminded him. "The divisions have been practicing their jumps and looking over images of their targets on Google Earth."

"I know," he said, then he repeated himself softly. "I know, I guess I'm just worried."

"How's Mildred doing?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Initially she was extremely angry when I told her that she couldn't even tell Remus about our trip. But then you sweetened her mood by granting her that budget. I don't think anyone has noticed the ten dragon trips made nearly everyday. So far she's moved nearly two hundred thousand tons of material. In fact she has been struggling to find containers to purchase."

Harry grinned. He had given Mildred one hundred fifty million pounds to spend and set up with a team of non-bonded dragons to ferry material for her.

Ronan stood and stretched. "I better check in on Karen. She's been a bit grumpier than usual. I'm certain Neruth told her I'm keeping secrets."

Harry looked up and his eyes narrowed, then he sighed and shook his head. "Ronan, I know this is a burden on you. I want you to be honest with me, if you feel this is hurting your marriage or your family, then you have my permission to tell her."

Ronan looked up in surprise and nodded. He knew Harry didn't expect him to tell Karen unless things were truly bad. Right now they weren't even close.

"I won't abuse the privilege Harry," he said softly.

"I know you won't. Now go home to your family," Harry replied.

Ronan grinned and walked from the room.

"This is getting harder with each day Cheki," he swore when they were alone.

"_I know, Comaloth and Trath both know there are things I'm not saying,"_ replied Cheki from his stall. _"It'll be nice to tell them."_

Harry looked out the window again. "After we deal with the Russians, they can't wait forever," he muttered.

* * *

**Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 2nd, 2010...**

General Sukov nearly stumbled when the attendant opened the door to the plane. The blast of hot air was like a physical blow. Even in January it was a vast difference between here and frigid Moscow. He had left there hours earlier in sub-zero temperatures, and now he felt as if he were melting.

Shielding his eyes from the harsh sun he stepped out onto the platform and climbed down the stairs. At the foot of the stairs a Saudi Air Force General waited for him with a broad smile.

_How this heat does not drive them mad is beyond me,_ Sukov thought. _Thankfully I managed to convince Irina to remain behind for this trip. _Sukov's wife was pregnant with their first child and he prayed that it would be a little girl as pretty as her mama and would grow up to be a ballerina.

He smiled for the general, "Azam did you invite me here just so I could cook in your sun?" he asked jovially.

The man at the bottom of the stairs laughed heartedly. "This is payback my friend for that blizzard you made me endure last week," he replied, "Come, the car is air conditioned, you will be more comfortable there."

Sukov smiled, last week they had three feet of snow in Moscow, a typical Russian winter storm, but his Saudi counterpart was unused to such weather. Now it was time for a little gentle payback. Sukov descended the last few steps and shook the hand of the Arab general, then let himself be led to an air conditioned limo.

"We are going to your hotel first where you can relax for a few hours, then the car will come back to take you to my villa. There is an American delegation at the air ministry building today and we didn't think it wise for you to be seen and possibly identified," Azam said.

Sukov started, "An American delegation? What do they want?"

Azam smiled, "What do the Americans always want? Money, they are upset with our purchase of advanced fighter aircraft and helicopters from your country. They are trying to convince us to cancel the order and buy from them instead."

Sukov shook his head, the antics of the Americans amused him. They were worrying about money when it never occurred to them that someone was undermining the Saudi/American alliance right under their noses. Russia could do such a thing because America had no formal alliance with Saudi Arabia. It was an informal situation that had been strained in recent years over the actions of several members of the Royal family and associates.

While the U.S. government had struggled to maintain cordial relations with the Saudis, the American public were becoming increasingly unhappy with that country. This disparity made for a very mixed response by the American government.

"If the Americans were so concerned they would have found a way to curb the excesses of this Weyrleader," Azam commented.

Sukov nodded in reply, it was a theme he had heard many times, from the Saudis and from his own government. It was believed that the American and British governments had far more control over the Weyrs than they claimed. Sukov tended to believe that The Weyrleader was truly independent of the western governments.

It was a belief that he shared only with Irina especially now that she had given her promise that she would no longer report to FIS.

"Azam my friend, have you ever thought that the Weyrleader is truly unshackled?" Sukov asked quietly.

Azam's eyes darted to the driver and then back to Sukov. He shook his head slightly and Iskady nodded in reply. "We all know he is only doing what he is told in order to destabilize our countries."

Sukov nodded knowingly. Azam's message was clear, it was not safe to speak, even here in the car. Sukov knew that not everyone in the Saudi government supported the closer relationship with Russia. Back in the days of the Soviet Union Russia would have used their growing support in country to undermine any western influences while increasing Soviet influence. The Soviet Union might be gone, but there was a lot of history and suspicion to overcome.

After a short drive, they pulled up to a modern, international hotel and Azam ushered Iskady into the lobby. The presence of the Saudi Air Force General, who happened to also be a member of the Royal Family, albeit a distant one, expedited Sukov's check in. In short order the bemused Russian found himself following a bellhop into a luxury suite provided by the Saudi government.

"I will be back in two hours my friend," Azam said. "Until then, relax for a bit, change into something a bit lighter. I will meet up with you in front of the lobby."

Sukov nodded and waved to his counter-part, then he waited until Azam and the bellhop left the suite before digging through his bags for his phone so he could call his wife and let her know he had arrived safely.

Two hours later he was dressed in a summer uniform and glad that Irina had insisted he pack the uniform. His briefcase contained a comprehensive list of material that his country would 'loan' Saudi Arabia for the upcoming action as well as proposed battle plans which he still needed to get the Saudis to sign off on.

The car slowly pulled away from the curb in front of the hotel and Sukov reached for his briefcase, bending over to pick it up. He heard a loud noise and suddenly was thrown back against the seat. Iskady grunted in agony when he felt a searing pain in his right side. A blast of heat and flame washed over him briefly and the car suddenly pitched nose up into the air.

Confused and in shock Iskady stared out the broken window of his automobile, he couldn't understand why everything was upside down. He blinked owlishly for a moment and gradually his hearing returned. He heard many shouts from around the front of the hotel and several uniformed men appeared in his view and started to work on opening his door. He turned his head slightly and intense pain seared through his neck and up into his head. He gasped and passed out, never knowing he had become a victim of terrorist attack that had been aimed at his friend Air Minister Azam.

Around the limo sirens wailed as dozens of police responded to a call that a Minister's car had been attacked. Fire units and paramedics worked frantically to open the door to access the passenger in the rear. He was alive, the driver and the front seat security guard were killed outright.

Word came down from police headquarters that the passenger was a diplomatic VIP and was to be cared for by the best.

A senior police inspector stood off to one side watching the paramedics load their patient onto a stretcher. A uniformed officer had already handed him a briefcase believed to be owned by the passenger. The inspector frowned as he noted the Russian uniform the injured man wore, then he glanced down at the case with had been cracked open by the blast.

The inspector didn't like the Russians, they had a checkered history in the middle east of causing trouble and leaving others to pick up the pieces. He would delay informing the Russian embassy long enough to photocopy the documents in the case, perhaps his friend at the American embassy would be interested in them.

* * *

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr, January 2nd 2010...**

The door to the office opened and Harry smiled faintly as several people entered. This was a core group, Ronan and his wife Karen, Mildred Lupin and Remus, Katherine and Sirius and of course Hermione and May.

Dobby popped in and watched carefully as several elves appeared with extra chairs for everyone. Before the elves vanished a tea and coffee service appeared. Harry nodded in thanks to Dobby and the little elf vanished.

At the heart of the reason Harry had called this group together was a simple fact. Dragons were natural gossips and if they couldn't share a secret, they would happily brag about knowing something no one else knows.

Harry waited until everyone was seated before he began. "I called you here today because Ronan, Mildred and myself hold a Weyr secret. A secret that even the other weyr leaders don't know and that secret has started to become an issue outside of your professional lives."

He glanced fondly at Cheki in his stall watching the group with amusement. "Dragons are natural gossips and even when they do hold a secret, they will happily tell people they know a secret that they can't talk about."

Everyone looked around and nodded, it was common knowledge that dragons were unusually interested in the lives of their riders and didn't seem to mind passing embarrassing details of their riders lives to other dragons, who in turn passed them to their riders.

"_Well you are very amusing people,"_ Cheki offered.

Harry smiled and shook his head, then he turned his attention back to the others and shrugged his shoulders. At one time everyone in the room had been the subject of embarrassing dragon gossip. "You're here today because the dragons involved have been ordered not to divulge what they know, just like their riders, but that hasn't stopped them from bragging about knowing a secret."

Harry paused and took a deep breath before plunging ahead.

"Last night Garanoth bespoke to Cheki and told him about a fight Ronan and Karen had had."

"I don't see how that's your business, Weyrleader or not," Karen snapped.

Chekiath growled softly in his attached stall and Harry held up a hand, motioning the big dragon to silence.

"Ordinarily it is not my business," Harry said softly, "but when two people I consider to be close friends are having an issue because of something I caused, I feel I need to make it right."

Karen blinked in surprise and Harry smiled at her. His tone had been mild and lacking any form of rebuke. Harry turned to the others. "Each of you are here because a secret has been kept from you, and in nearly every case it has caused problems."

He turned to eye Katherine and Sirius specifically, "I know you two have no clue what I'm talking about, except to say that you know that we've been shipping an incredible amount of material out of the Weyr in recent months. That alone has probably raised some suspicions."

Both Katherine and Sirius nodded. Katherine had finally retired from the British Army and was now a paid civilian employee of the Weyr, and more importantly, she was a member of the Weyr just like any other rider. Katherine had noted the steady stream of loaded containers arriving daily, after all, it was hard to miss one hundred trucks a day arriving, then leaving empty.

It was Sirius that told her the dragons were lifting the containers somewhere else, only he didn't know where they were going.

"Nearly two hundred million pounds worth of material," Karen said unhappily. "That kind of money is going to make a serious dent in our profit margins especially since it's tied to the Office of the Weyrleader and not any subsidiary branch of DSL."

Harry shrugged. "It can't be helped Karen. But I want to say this so that it's perfectly clear. Ronan, Mildred and myself are the only ones that know what's going on. Not even the other Weyrleaders know, this is a Weyr secret at the highest level. The only other people that know are the unbonded dragons that have been moving the stuff Mildred's been ordering for us, and those dragons have been ordered to say nothing about what they are doing to any rider. Even the riders that are organizing those dragons don't know what's going on.

"We have been preparing for a conflict with Russia and their allies. Once that is past, everyone, the whole world will know why we've spent that money. For dragons, as a people, it will be our best investment ever."

Karen looked puzzled for a moment, she glanced at Ronan who smiled hopefully at her. She couldn't help smiling back.

Harry stood and walked over to his window. The others glanced at each other nervously and wondered what kind of secret could cause the Weyr to spend that kind of money.

He turned away from the window. "I ordered Ronan and Mildred to keep it secret and I'd rather not divulge it even now if I can avoid it." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Any day now, I expect we'll have the proof that we need and we'll be in a real war. If the secret got out, all our training could be seriously jeopardized. I firmly believe that. I believe if our riders knew the secret they would be too distracted and distractions will cost lives."

Harry turned to May and Hermione. "I want to tell you two, just like Mildred wants to tell Remus, and Ronan wants to tell Karen, but we can't risk it. This is truly a case of need to know," he said. It was impossible to miss the plea in his voice, begging them to understand.

May straightened in her seat and sighed heavily. "You truly think it would cause that much trouble?"

"I do," Harry admitted. "If I tell you, then Trath knows and while I know neither of you would tell anyone, just someone overhearing a conversation could wreck all our plans."

"I suppose this is like the client confidentiality," Hermione said softly. "There are aspects of some of our dealings that I can't talk about to just anyone."

May and Hermione shared a glance, then May turned back to Harry. "I don't like it, but I know that you're not doing it to hurt us. If you think its that important I'll stop asking about it."

"Me too," added Hermione. Both of the women had known that Cheki and Harry were sitting on a secret and normally he would speak to them about it. That he hadn't said a word about it hurt and implied a trust issue that worried them. Now it was apparent why he was withholding this secret. They didn't like it, but they would accept his reasons.

Harry nodded in relief and turned to Karen. "Karen, Ronan trusts you with his life. If you must be angry with anyone, then be angry with me, I ordered his silence and as you can see, even my own wives don't know."

Karen huffed angrily for a moment, then she looked around in resignation before turning back to Ronan. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Ronan reached for her hand. "Me too," he replied.

"I promise that I will personally tell you all about this as soon as I am able," Harry added.

Karen glanced at Harry and nodded, then she turned back to Ronan, "I've been such a bitch to you."

Ronan shrugged. "You knew I was keeping something from you, I really wanted to tell you about it but I couldn't."

Karen nodded and smiled shyly at her husband.

Harry suppressed the urge to grin, then he turned to Remus. "Remus..."

Remus held up a hand. "It's all right Harry. When Mildred said she couldn't tell me anything I figured you had a good reason. She's been working awful hard lately, can I at least help her with that?"

Mildred looked up at Harry with a hopeful expression. He nodded knowing that Mildred's task could be done without Remus knowing the reasons behind it.

Katherine stood up and looked around the room. "Secrets," she said in a clear voice, "are the life blood of any nation. In the military we deal with them on a daily basis once you reach a certain level. What Harry is doing right now is something no other commanding officer would have done. He is not divulging any secrets, but he's asking the people involved to understand why it can't be shared. In the army they would rather see your marriage fall apart than you tell your spouse any secrets or even ask you to understand why you can't know.

"Hell the army would deny a secret even exists!" Katherine turned and nodded to Harry before taking her seat again.

Harry smiled wanly. "Thank you Katherine," he replied.

"I promise you each that when the times comes, you'll be among the first to know," he stated.

Sirius bounced to his feet. "Well that didn't answer any questions and it makes it all the more mysterious," he said in a creepy voice. "I suppose we'll discover that Harry's planning on using the dragons to move Poland or hijack Hawaii or something!"

Chuckling the others stood and filed from the office. Once they were gone Harry leaned back on his chair and sighed, then tiredly rubbed at his temples.

"_It will get better Harry,"_ Chekiath said.

"I know mate, but right now it seems like I'm trying to do eight things at once and I'm not doing them very well."

"_It is hard being Weyrleader, but you were right to order our silence. I know I've wanted to tell Comaloth and Trath many times. Secrets are something new to dragons and I'm not sure I like them."_

Harry laughed softly. "I don't like them either, but we have to live with them for now. When the time comes, we'll tell them all about it, our friends and family and the whole world."

Chekiath's rumbled in his stall. _"I'll let you tell the world. I don't like being on television."_

Harry shook his head and turned back to his desk. He still had a ton of paperwork to deal with.

* * *

**King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh Saudia Arabia, January 5th 2010...**

The door swung softly open and Irina Sukov fearfully entered the room. The physician standing next to the bed glanced up then he turned back to his patient. The man instantly dismissed the female, she was merely another unwanted foreigner in his opinion. Another man, in a Russian Army uniform smiled from his position by the window where he had been observing the surgeon examine his patient.

"Ah, Mrs. Sukov?" asked the Russian officer.

Irina tore her eyes away from her heavily bandaged husband and looked at the officer. "I'm sorry, Colonel?"

"Illinov Mrs Sukov, Colonel Illinov, I'm part of the military mission attached to our embassy. The ambassador felt it would be best if I were here until we bring General Sukov home."

Irina nodded absently, "How is he? No one would tell me."

The surgeon straightened up and made a notation in his book. He was Arabian and he didn't approve of this woman wearing mostly western wear, her only concession to local custom was a head scarf. But his patient was a VIP and would not be long in country. The Russians were trying to set up a special flight, along with a medical team to escort him home. "He will live, but he will need some additional surgery," he said in a clipped voice. "Some of the shrapnel pierced his abdomen before clipping one of his vertebrae. He has flash burns on his face which should heal completely, but one shoulder had deeper burns and will require some surgery to help reduce the scarring."

"Vertebrae? You mean his spine?" she gasped.

"No, that is a common misconception; it is possible to damage a vertebrae and keep the spinal column intact. We had to fuse the vertebrae together and put him in a back brace, but there is no sign of damage to his spinal column. While he will need extensive therapy, the General will walk again."

The surgeon nodded to the Colonel and then walked from the room, not acknowledging Irina any further. She stared at the man's retreating back in surprise, then she turned to Colonel Illinov who shrugged in embarrassment. "Different customs," he murmured apologetically.

A low groan came from the bed and they both turned towards it. Irina rushed forward and bent over her husband. She looked around carefully, before grasping his hand. "Iskady?"

"Irina?" Sukov said groggily. He was under considerable medication for pain and it hampered his thought process immensely. "What are you doing here Irina?"

The Colonel carried a chair over so Irina could sit and she gave him a grateful smile, then she sat and lowered her head so she could rub her cheek against the back of his hand. "The defense Minister arranged for me to come. It was thought that it would help with your recovery. He said that the country needed to see you had the best care, including sending me to be with you."

Irina wasn't about to admit that her doctor had alerted the ministry. Her reaction to the attack was putting their unborn child at risk.

Iskady turned his wrist, lifting her face enough that he could see her. He gave her a weak smile. He was very glad to see her. "Do not worry everything will be just fine," he said in an unconvincing tone.

Colonel Illinov coughed lightly and both Iskady and Irina looked up. "General, we will be flying you home the day after tomorrow. Your doctor wants you to rest as much as possible today and tomorrow. Mrs. Sukov will of course, accompany you on the flight."

"Thank you Colonel," the general replied. "What other news do you have?"

The Colonel stepped closer to the bed. He knew that the general's wife was also his aide, so she was cleared to know what other things have been happening since the attack.

"Unfortunately the embassy did not learn of the attack on your car until nearly six hours had passed. We managed to recover the bulk of your documents from the Saudi police, but we do not know if they were compromised or not. The Saudi government claims they kept the documents under lock and key and I can verify that your papers were stored in a heavy safe in a guarded room."

The Ambassador has sent word to Moscow saying he believes the Saudis and given the security I personally witnessed, I tend to agree with him."

Colonel Illinov never knew about the four hours that elapsed before the documents were moved to a secure safe.

"The defense minister and the President send their best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery. They want you to know that the government will do everything in it's power to help your recovery."

Iskady sighed and nodded tiredly. "So I've been relieved of command then," he said heavily.

"With all due respect General," the colonel replied, "you are seriously injured and will require a long time to recover."

Iskady closed his eyes and struggled with his emotions. He had spent a lifetime in the service of his country and now he was being shunted aside. The colonel didn't need to say it, but everyone in the room heard the unspoken "If you recover at all." in his words.

There was a lot of truth in the Colonel's words. General Sukov would probably be forced into a retirement due to his injuries. That he got them while on duty, doing his job meant it would be an honorable retirement and the government would help him as much as possible, but it would still mean an end to his career.

"Major General Altukov has been ordered to assume your command," Colonel Illinov added.

"Altukov!" Iskady said with a groan. The man wasn't even a pilot! The only thing one could say about Altukov was he had good political connections!

Irina looked at him in alarm. "Iskady, are you in pain? Should I ring a nurse?" she asked in alarm.

He pat her hand, "I'm fine, I'm fine," he replied. "Just thinking about work."

"You should rest General," Illinov said. "A security officer from the Embassy will be just outside your door until you leave for home. In the meantime I've arranged for Mrs. Sukov to stay at an apartment in the Embassy compound."

Iskady glanced to Irina, then to the colonel. "Thank you Colonel." He knew the security officer wasn't there to protect him. He was there to kill him if it become apparent that someone was trying to remove him from the hospital. There were secrets that he knew that had to be protected.

Such drastic measures would only last until he was home where he could be protected and cared for.

* * *

**Condron Weyr, January 29th 2010...**

Skip shuffled through the sheath of papers a second time, his eyes roaming over each page, picking out key points. Finally he looked up at Jasper Brady, "Where did you get this?" he asked breathlessly.

"Officially that document doesn't exist Skip. The current administration had no plans on turning it over to you or anyone else for that matter. Luckily I know someone at the Pentagon who owed me a favor. He let me have his original long enough to make a magical copy."

Skip nodded, "But where did they get it?"

"A few weeks back a Russian general was badly injured in a terrorists attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The general was taken to their best hospital and while they were performing surgery on the general, one of the police officers investigating the attack worked for us. He managed to copy the documents and get them to his contact at the embassy."

Jasper paused and looked very unhappy. "Skip, you need to understand, the US Government is likely making plans to prevent Condron from participating in any war with Russia."

Skip looked up from the papers and grimaced. "I guess I can understand that, not that it will help them at all, but I can understand it."

He glanced down at the papers, then back up again. "Jasper, this will get you into trouble if someone finds out, won't it?"

Jasper nodded unhappily. "I never thought I would be in this position, but yes, I could be tried for treason over this. I just couldn't sit on it, it wouldn't be right."

Jasper looked at Skip with a very serious expression. "I know I haven't been privy to everything the Weyr is up to, but both Mary and I are firmly convinced that the very key to human survival lies with the dragons."

It was impossible to miss the worry in Jasper's voice. He was putting himself in grave danger by handing over these documents to Skip.

"Jasper, if you even suspect that they are coming for you, come to us and the Weyrs will give you sanctuary. If not here, then at another Weyr. You and your family. You've been a steadfast friend since we first met and everyone here considers you one of us."

Jasper nodded in surprise. He didn't believe Condron could really provide sanctuary for him if the government came looking, but he was moved by the offer. He was also reassured that the Weyrs would see that his family was taken care of. It was the most he could realistically expect.

"Thank you," he said softly. "So what's the next step for you?"

"Harry and the other Weyrleaders need to see this," Skip replied, waving the papers. "This isn't a very detailed document, but its enough for us to make some very specific plans. Our plans up to this point have been largely reactionary, this allows us to come up with a more precise response."

Jasper sighed with relief knowing that the Weyrs would be able to make better plans now. The papers contained a broad outline of how Russia and Saudi Arabia would attack the Weyrs. Unit details were missing, so was timing information, but there was enough here for the Weyrs to really make preparations.

Jasper stood. "Well in that case, I guess I'll return home."

Skip nodded and turned back to the papers Jasper had provided. Once Jasper had left the room he turned to his dragon. "Menth, tell Chekiath that I need to see Harry right away, it's critical Weyr business, then tell Lokith that we'll probably be gone late and not to wait up for us... Oh and let's put a pair of dragons watching over Jasper. If he's right, we'll want to be in a position to get him and his family out of there before he can be arrested."

Menth rumbled softly in his stall. _"Jasper will be protected, he is family. You know Kat will want to know why you're not going to be home for diner."_

Skip stood and poked at his belly regretfully. Kat was a wonderful cook and his belly was proof of that. He ran daily even in the New Mexico heat, plus used the Weyr gym several times a week and still he had a slight bulge that he never had in high school. "I suppose," he said grudgingly, "but if she's that curious she can always hop over to Campbeltown, that's where we'll be."

"_I'll bet you ten bucks she'll bring you diner,"_ Menth said with another rumble.

Skip winced, like all of the paired dragons, Menth had a bank account and received a salary like Skip. Unfortunately for Skip Menth had managed to amass a very nice bank balance on bet's he made throughout the Weyr. Even Skip had lost to Menth on multiple occasions. "Don't you have enough of my money?" Skip said plaintively. Kat was actually annoyed that Skip constantly fell for Menth's wagers.

"_I don't make you take my bets,"_ Menth added, sounding slightly offended.

"No he does that all on his own. So what are you two betting on this time?" Kat said from the doorway.

"I just said you'd probably bring him diner even if he was in a meeting at Campbeltown," Menth offered.

"Yes, about that meeting. Mind telling me what's so important that you'd be willing to go there at the drop of a hat?"

Skip handed Kat the file containing the documents that Jasper had obtained. She sat on the couch and started to read. As she read her forehead crinkled in concentration and worry. Finally she looked up at Skip. "Alright, Harry does need to see this right away," she admitted, then she glanced at the clock and frowned. "It's just after one in the morning there, but there's no way around it."

Skip nodded. "I agree, I would have left already, but the big numbskull here decided I needed to talk about gambling."

Kat shook her head. She knew there was a potential issue with Skip and betting, but she had confronted him about it, she discovered that he realized the problem since he had seen his uncle destroy his life with a gambling addiction. As a result he worked to avoid betting on anything and had held to that, except when his dragon offered him odds on something. Menth understood Skip's fears and only allowed him to bet a few dollars at a time and even with that, Skip almost always lost.

"You two I swear," Kat grumbled.

Menth lifted his head and looked at her fondly, _"You do not have to worry about Skip losing all his money, but he does owe me tickets to a Red Sox game."_

Kat laughed, she had helped infect the Weyr's dragons with a love of baseball, and to Skip's ultimate shame, he favored Kat's hometown team and not the Houston Astros who Skip liked.

* * *

**Kitchen Hall, Campbeltown Weyr...**

The hall was a disaster, there were half empty cups and food scattered about the room and despite it being nearly ten in the morning, every Weyrleader, Division Leader and Division Second were clustered around maps or busy making lists of things to do.

Harry glanced up tiredly when Draco slid a piece of paper under his nose. Skip and Kat had arrived at Campbeltown around two in the morning, waking Harry and once he understood what they were showing him, he called in every Weyrleader.

Harry glanced down at Draco's list and nodded. "I hate even thinking about this, but I agree, this is going to shock the Russians entirely."

Draco smiled thinly. "It will certainly get their attention. We won't be able to get all of them, but we'll get most."

Harry initialed the paper and handed it back to Draco. Give this to Skip, and help him pick what resources he'll need from us.

Draco nodded and walked over to another table where a bunch of people were clustered around Skip.

May walked over and sat heavily next to Harry. "I'm made up a list of emergency supplies, but you do know our only operating theater is here at Campbeltown? No one has managed to put together another yet. If they attack us directly, we'll lose the theater."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "It can't be helped. Even if we had other theaters, they know where most of the manned Weyrs are, they'd just be other targets. If it helps there'll be ten unbonded wings flying combat air patrol over Campbeltown. They will have orders to down any approaching aircraft."

"And if they use missiles?" May asked angrily. This whole episode frightened her. There were a lot of threats that they could deal with, but low flying cruise missiles were a recognized threat that they had no real counter for. Harry was gambling that the Russians would be reluctant to directly attack a Weyr because it might invoke the wrath of the host nation. The plans Skip had provided suggested that the Russians and their allies would attack some of the Weyrs, but would avoid any of the nations with a modern military.

It was the threat of these missiles that prompted the Weyrs to plan on evacuating all non-essential employees and families. May knew that unlike so many, their children would be accompanied by both sets of grandparents. Some of the Weyr families would have no one but house elves to watch over the their children.

Harry looked down for a moment and he played with some of the papers in front of him. Finally he looked up at her. "I'm sorry May, but I didn't want the Russians to attack us. We're just reacting to their plans. I've done everything I can think of to make us safer. Our families will be moved at the drop of a hat. All of our non-rider personnel are prepared to evacuate within thirty minutes..."

May's expression softened and she reached out and stopped him with a touch. "No Harry, it's me who should be sorry. I know how hard you've been working since the attack that killed the Svartvatn nineteen. I'm just angry with the whole thing. We've worked so hard and could lose so much."

Harry nodded. "I know and believe me I understand." He reached out and caressed her cheek. "Better now?" he asked softly.

She nodded, a bit ashamed of herself for snapping at him. He smiled and stood, then he walked to the podium in the front of the room. He stood there and waited for the room to settle down. Slowly a tense silence fell in the room. He knew a great many people were frightened, while most were too young to remember the cold war days, each of them had a healthy fear of a super power conflict; and now the Weyrs were preparing to face off against one of those super powers.

Harry cleared his throat, then surveyed the room with confidence. A quick comment to Cheki had everyone sitting up straighter and looking less worried. "You all know what your jobs are now. Skip and Draco will coordinate our plans for any possible combat I expect that you'll keep in touch with them via our network. Weyrleaders, remember to inform your wings that Disko Island will be where the central infirmary will be. May will set up a triage for dragons and Lisa Turpin will do the same for riders."

He glanced over towards Lisa who nodded. She was one of the first Weyr doctors and second in charge of the Campbeltown clinic. Isaac Sheppard had been asked to go to Disko, but he felt that he would be more useful at Campbeltown. He was content to know his family were included in the list of evacuees.

"I know a lot of you are tired, so I won't keep you much longer. We have a lot of things to do now that we have some ideas of what to plan for," Harry said with a confident smile. "I personally believe that this is a big mistake on the part of the Russians, and it's time to show the world that you never wake a sleeping dragon."

Several former Hogwarts students in the hall chuckled at Harry's mangling of the Hogwarts motto, but the sentiment was clear. The Weyrs were preparing for war.

* * *

**Campbeltown Administration Building, Campbeltown Weyr, February 2nd 2010...**

"Knock knock."

Katherine looked up and grinned at Lord Mills who was standing in her doorway, "James, how are you? It seems like weeks since I last saw you."

Lord Mills entered the room. "No, only a week. I really needed some time off to relax. The PM's office has been running me ragged putting together information on the real impact of the Weyr on the economy."

Katherine nodded, she knew that the current Prime Minister wasn't too happy with the Weyr, but had generally opted to leave the dragons alone for the most part.

"How is that going?" she asked.

James shrugged. "The PM isn't going to be pleased, but there isn't a lot he can do about it. The Weyr has greatly strengthened our economy and put Britain back into a place of prominence on the world stage. I think what it all boils down to is the fact that the Harry has a higher approval rating than he does. That doesn't sit well with our PM I'm afraid. The only comfort he can really take from my report will be that the Weyr and Britain need each other. I can't honestly envision any circumstances where one would hurt the other. The Weyr and Britain are too closely linked for that to happen."

Katherine nodded, she had come to a similar conclusion years ago. The Weyr had stimulated the economy of the United Kingdom in more ways than just energy production, but the Weyr needed the country for the materials and goods it couldn't create on it's own. The Weyr also relied heavily on the government for help in diplomatic matters.

"So how are you enjoying the private sector?"

James took a seat and Dobby appeared and handed him a cup of coffee. He nodded to the elf and looked expectantly at Katherine.

"Well I get to sleep in more often. No more late night shifts or annual training exercises run under ungodly weather conditions," she said with a large measure of relief. One of the last training exercises she had experienced had been in the Scottish Highlands and resulted in a serious case of pneumonia. It was one of the principle reasons why she opted to retire early.

James nodded knowingly, he was getting up there in years as well, and his own health had forced a week long vacation on him just recently.

"How's Kristin doing?"

Katherine's smile nearly lit up the room. "She's doing very well in school, and this month I think she wants to be an astronaut."

"This month?"

Katherine chuckled, "Well you know kids, last month she wanted to be a dinosaur scientist thanks to that Jurassic Park movie, the month before that she wanted to be a race car driver."

James laughed and started to reply when the phone rang. Katherine picked it up and listened for a moment, then she started to frown. Finally she hung up the phone and looked over at James. "James, I need to see Sirius for a moment. Can you wait? I wanted to talk to you about some of our equipment contracts."

James nodded affably and Katherine hurriedly left the room. He sat quietly for a few minutes, then a paper on the coffee table caught his eye. James quickly scanned the printed email that was addressed to Katherine. He was shocked by its contents.

A few more minutes passed, then Katherine returned. "Sorry about that, but I ran into Captain Pickford after dealing with Sirius. Pickford had some questions about the security measures I had put in place."

Captain Janet Pickford was the new commander of the Military police unit providing base security for both the Weyr and the adjacent SAS base. She had replaced Katherine when she retired.

James stood. "Katherine, I'll get back to you about those equipment contracts. If you could email me your questions I'll be able to pull the relevant files so we can go over them."

Katherine smiled. "Good enough James, I'll send you an email later today."

James nodded and hurried from the room.

Katherine frowned and glanced towards the ceiling. "Did it work?" she asked aloud.

"_I believe so. Sheep guy went from calm to very excited shortly after you left,"_ Norendrath replied. The large dragon had been sunning himself right over Katherine's office.

"I'll check the camera feed to be sure," Katherine said. "I hate using James like this."

She turned and opened a file on her computer that was linked to a small hidden camera on the bookshelf behind her. After watching it for a minute, she picked up the phone.

"Harry?"

"Yes Katherine?"

"Lord Mills found the bait. He left here rather in a hurry."

There was a brief moment of silence then Katherine heard him take a deep breath. "Hopefully that will get them poking the Yanks for information. I couldn't think of a way of warning our hosts without invoking the ire of our illustrious PM again. I just wish we didn't have to trick James into being the messenger," Harry replied dryly.

Katherine nodded to herself, it was true that relations between Number 10 Downing Street and the Weyr had cooled considerably when Cameron took the position. Unlike the two previous Prime Ministers, there was no ongoing relationship with Prime Minister Cameron.

"I know how you feel. I'll alert Skip via email, they can plan on moving Jasper and his family if necessary," she replied.

"Thank you Katherine."

She hung up the phone and opened up her email program. She had a letter to write.

* * *

**Number Ten Downing Street, later that same day...**

David Cameron paced in front of his desk, trying to figure out what to do.

"There are two issues here."

Cameron turned to look at the speaker. Admiral Stanhope was the first Sea Lord; the Royal Navy had done extensive research into the capabilities of the dragons and were the people called upon when the government wanted to know about the dragons fighting capabilities.

"What?" demanded Cameron.

Stanhope motioned towards Lord Mills. "First off, we now know that the Weyrs obtained a copy of a secret Russian battle plan. Secondly and I think more interestingly, the email Lord Mills managed to read said they got the plan from an American and a Russian source. In my mind that implies that the Weyrs have managed to develop some form of intelligence gathering ability."

No one present knew that the email James had read had been carefully crafted to give the reader just that impression.

"Here here," muttered Sir Peter from his corner. Sir Peter Oswald was the very unhappy head of the British Intelligence service called MI6. He had reached the same conclusion and was very annoyed that his people hadn't learned of this sooner than now.

Cameron shot him a look and he settled back into his chair. "So what do we do now? Anyone?"

"Is there any chance Lord Mills can get us more information?" asked Sir Peter.

James shook his head emphatically. "I doubt it. To be honest I wasn't all that thrilled to do even this much. The Weyrs managed to get their hands on Russian battle plans, if this didn't have the potential to seriously impact us, I wouldn't have even brought it up."

Sir Peter grunted sourly. It was clear to him that Lord Mills lacked the motivation to be an intelligence officer.

"I quite agree," Stanhope said. "I think Lord Mills has done enough. It's up to us to decide what to do from here. I would think our first step would be to approach the Yanks and see if we can get our hands on this document of theirs."

Cameron nodded slowly, then he turned to James. "Well? Does this change how the Weyrs will react?"

James shook his head. "No, it doesn't," he said firmly. "The Weyrleader is extremely conscious of the impact of public opinion. The Weyrs will make plans to counter this plan, but he won't do a preemptive strike. He knows the world will turn against him if he did. On the other hand, responding to an attack with a claim of self defense is something every nation will recognize and acknowledge. To deny the Weyr the ability to defend itself is to deny every other nation the right of self defense."

Cameron grunted and glanced at the others. Each nodded in turn. The Weyrs were a recognized indigenous people and given special recognition by the United Nations as such. _Blast,_ Cameron thought angrily,_ its that damn autonomy coming back to bite us. _

"Well then, Lord Mills, I thank you for this warning but we'll take it from here," Cameron said brusquely.

James nodded and quickly exited the room. He had passed along a warning, but deep down he felt like he had betrayed the trust of his friends.

The three remaining men in the room waited until James had left. "So how do we get our hands on these plans? And if we do get our hands on them, what do we do about them?" asked Cameron.

"Well sir," Stanhope said, "I'm not sure about the first part, but it seems to me that we need to set a watch on the Weyr. The moment we see the dragons getting airborne, we should do the same. That would give the Russians pause if they thought they could attack the Weyr territories within our borders with impunity."

Unlike most nations who hosted a weyr, Britain actually hosted two, one at Campbeltown and another in the Shetland islands.

"Setting a watch shouldn't be all that hard, we do provide security for the Weyr, plus we have the SAS right next door. We can easily set a watch and be unobtrusive about it."

Cameron nodded thoughtfully. The Russians wouldn't dare attempt to overfly their territory with armed aircraft, that in itself would be an act of war. "What about missiles? I'm sure they wouldn't dream of coming at the Weyr with aircraft, but missiles they could easily launch."

Stanhope nodded and wished he could light his pipe. "They could, but the launch of missiles would be detected, and the Russians aren't stupid. Launching ballistic or even cruise missiles could be construed as an opening strike in a nuclear conflict. The American's would launch, hell, even our submarines would start their launch cycle. It's pretty much automatic once a launch has been detected.

"Cruise missiles are designed to take circuitous routes in order to confuse the enemy. We'd have no clue if they were heading for the Weyr or Manchester until the last moments. Ballistic missiles are even harder to plot now that everyone is using multiple warhead reentry vehicles. Even if they use cruise missiles, overflying our territory would be seen as an attack on us."

"So you don't believe missiles would be used?" pressed Cameron.

Stanhope shook his head. "No sir, I think we'll see plenty of close range air to air stuff, but I doubt Russia will risk starting a nuclear war with long range cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. I doubt we'll see any of their long range bombers, for the same reasons as missiles they won't risk the bombers over national territories because it could easily escalate into a nuclear conflict."

"I thought the cold war was over," Cameron muttered, then he shook his head. "Very well, Admiral I want you to go talk to Minister Leyland and get started on a plan to put enough of a fighter force in the air that will deter any attempt to overfly our territory. Since we don't have a time frame I can't emphasize enough that we need this quickly. Pull in the people you need and keep me informed."

"And if we see Dragons fighting Russian aircraft sir?" pressed Stanhope.

Cameron frowned for a moment. "Let me make myself perfectly clear. You will not engage any aircraft that is outside of our territorial airspace. If the dragons are engaged, our forces will not get involved unless it's over our territory."

Admiral Stanhope nodded a bit unhappily, then stood and hurriedly exited the room. With the Admiral gone Cameron turned to Sir Peter. "I take it your people will be looking into this as well?"

Sir Peter eyed the PM for a moment, then he said, "We will, and I guess its safe to assume you'll be trying a diplomatic approach to getting a hold of these plans?"

Cameron snorted. "As soon as you leave I'll be summoning the American Ambassador to have a little chat. We'll also put out feelers among some of our other allies. Unfortunately Putin isn't exactly a person we can easily reason with."

Sir Peter nodded. The Russian leader was a throwback to the old Stalinist days in his opinion. Sir Peter didn't share his boss's disdain for the dragons, but he did hold deep suspicions concerning the Russian leader.

Sir Peter stood. "I'll get my people right on it. Hopefully we'll find out something."

"Thank you Peter," Cameron said. "I'll see you for our Saturday night bridge game?"

Peter smiled. "I would dream of missing it David."

Cameron nodded and his friend left the room, then he returned to his seat and picked up the phone. "Mrs. Woolington, would you call the American Ambassador and ask him to come see me please?"

The Weyr's plan had worked even better than they had hoped. Harry had wanted the British to know what was happening, but the breakdown in the relationship between the Weyr and Number 10 resulted in an uneasy time for both parties. Cameron was notably cool towards the Weyr and it was known that he had been against the Weyr receiving autonomy.

Harry hoped that the government would act, and do so in a manner that would protect the British people.

* * *

**Sirius &amp; Katherine's quarters, Campbeltown Weyr, February 4th 2010...**

Sirius peeked over his newspaper and smiled seeing Kristin laying on the carpet next to Tweenie, carefully coloring in her book. Katherine sat at the kitchen table, filling out some paperwork.

Both Katherine and Sirius wanted more children, but adoption was their only option and despite having been approved to adopt Kirstin several years earlier with help from the Prime Minister's office, this time they wouldn't have such help and needed to file a lot of paperwork.

Sirius helped as much as he could, but some of the questions stymied him completely.

"I managed to find another two loading slips today love," he said offhand.

Katherine looked up with interest. Harry still hadn't told them why so many trucks were arriving at the Weyr and leaving empty. Over the course of the past few weeks Sirius had managed to find a few slips outlining the contents of some of the containers. It had become a puzzle that Katherine and he were eager to solve.

"What was it this time? More toilet paper?" she asked.

He laughed, the very first loading slip he had found was for ten thousand rolls of toilet paper. "No this one was different. It's hard enough to find these things in the first place, but I got lucky today. Container fifteen forty one contained four tons of seed corn and another four tons of wheat seed, container thirty six eighty seven contained four hundred battery powered radios and something called a box antenna. That slip mentioned it was in conjunction with the contents of container thirty six eighty eight."

Katherine leaned back in her chair and nibbled on her pen. "Growing seeds and radios and a transmitter for that antenna, toilet paper, insulation, books including fifty complete sets of Encyclopedias of Technology," she mused, then her brow furrowed. "It almost sounds like they are building a Weyr, but why the radios and transmitter?"

Sirius nodded, "I thought so also, but why keep that a secret? They've built over a dozen Weyrs and never used this much stuff."

Katherine frowned and shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted unhappily. "I hate secrets. I understand the need for them, but that doesn't mean I like them."

"Mummy?"

Katherine turned to look at her daughter on the floor.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Norendrath says that sometimes the Weyrleader does stuff we don't know about, but he always does stuff to help us. Like that time he helped with my birthday party," Kirstin said from the floor.

Kirstin's birthday had been a special event. Harry had arranged for all of the children and parents from her second grade class to be taken to Euro-Disney. Sirius had paid for the tickets, but Harry had preempted the use of a Weyr passenger module to transport everyone and bring them back.

"I know sweetie, Uncle Harry is like that. I just dislike having a puzzle on my hands," Katherine replied with a smile.

Kirstin stood up and walked over to the table. She glanced down the forms and then back to her Mum. "Don't forget you're spposed to order me a little sister. I don't want a little brother, Francis says her little brother smells bad!"

Sirius and Katherine exchanged amused glances. Kirstin was puzzled by all the forms her Mum had been filling out. She was a product of the Internet age and she thought anything could be ordered on-line, even little sisters.

* * *

**Main Military Clinical Hospital Burdenko, Moscow Russia, February 12th 2010...**

Iskady Sukov grimaced as the orderly wheeled him towards the elevator and freedom. For more than a month he had endured living under the care of some of the best doctors Russia had to offer, and privately he was thrilled to be able to go home.

He had all of the surgeries he could for the time being, but there were still plans for another, over a year from now to deal with the heavy scarring on his shoulder.

The orderly hit another uneven spot on the floor and he grunted painfully. He was by no means well, but he was recovering and the doctors had been ordered to clear beds of the walking invalids by the government. Iskady knew why such an order had been issued, but he couldn't tell anyone. The government was entering it's final phases before declaring war on dragon-kind.

Iskady glanced ahead and smiled broadly. Irina stood just outside, in front of their car. His good friend Mishka waved at him from the driver's seat. They had a long drive to get to St. Petersburg and the retirement dacha that the government had gifted him. The house was situated just outside of the city proper, but close enough to make it easy to get shopping and other needs taken care of.

While Major General Sukov was officially 'retired' due to his injuries, he had been told that he might be called upon for advice by the military. For that reason he was officially listed as a member of the support reserve command staff.

Irina leaned down and kissed his forehead gently. "Soon we will be home Iskady," she said.

He grinned and placed a hand against her growing belly. "And is everything at our new home to your satisfaction?"

She nodded happily, the dacha wasn't large, but they had a real kitchen and three bedrooms. It was a far cry from her old cramped apartment, and even downright luxurious compared to the base housing she had moved into after she married Iskady.

"I am looking forward to decorating the baby's room, and you will be there to help me," she replied.

Iskady laughed, "We will have to find pictures of ballerinas for her walls."

He was convinced they were having a daughter, and that she would grow up to be a ballerina and not a soldier.

Irina shook her head in amusement, then she opened the car door. The orderly locked the wheels on his chair and then moved to Iskady's side to offer support as he stood and got into the car.

Once Iskady was in the car, the orderly saluted him. The man was a member of the military medical corps and he knew Iskady was a high ranking officer even if he was a patient.

Iskady nodded to the orderly and Mishka pulled the car away from the curb.

_Thats probably the last time someone will salute me,_ Iskady thought a bit wistfully, then he turned to his wife. "So? Tell me about our new home?"

_There is one silver cloud to this,_ Iskady thought to himself as he half listened to his wife. _We will be far away from the fighting._

Major General Iskady Sukov (retired) had no idea that the dragons would not abide by the Russian decision to wage war in international waters only.

* * *

**The Barents Sea, South East of the Svalbard Islands, February 15th...**

The removal of General Iskady Sukov from the command structure for the upcoming conflict resulted in considerable changes. Under Sukov the plan had been to confront the dragons in international airspace for the most part. The Saudis would have been taking the larger risk in bombing their nearest Weyr.

But all that changed with Sukov's forced retirement due to his injuries. Major General Pyotr Altukov was not a pilot, nor was he even a member of the Russian Air Force. He was an army general who was highly enamored with the idea of 'joint operations'. His first order of business was to scrap most of Sukov's plans and bring in the other branches of the military service for a more comprehensive campaign.

It was those change of plans which brought the Admiral Levechenko into these waters. An Udaloy class Russian destroyer with a crew of three hundred, she was tasked with testing her Gauntlet anti-air missiles against a living dragon.

Wing Twenty Three was part of the collective group of wings known as the fishers. Based out of Svartvatn weyr the fishers were none-bonded dragons that would patrol the seas looking for seals and the occasional whale pod. The Weyr had strict limits on what they could and could not fish and they were keenly aware of the environmental issues threatening many of the species of marine life.

Because of that awareness, Svartvatn weyr had become involved in comprehensive and ongoing survey of many marine species. It was volunteer work that they gladly participated in, relieving a large number of environmental agencies of having to hire expensive helicopters or ships to conduct their surveys.

Today Wing twenty three was busy counting whale pods instead of fishing.

Admiral Levechneko was at full speed, knifing through the water. A lookout had spotted the dragons ahead of the ship and now it was rapidly closing the range. The dragons seemed unaware of the approaching warship, and were busy counting a pod of bow-head whales they had encountered.

"Range to target?" asked the captain.

"10 kilometers Captain," replied the weapons officer.

Captain Antanov frowned, the missiles were fitted with special infra-red seekers instead of the standard radar guided seeker. That meant a hefty reduction in range for his Gauntlet missiles and they already had a limited range.

"Very well, you may fire when within range," the captain said, then he turned and settled into his command chair.

The weapons officer spoke briefly into a handset, then placed it back into the cradle. At the current rate of closure they would be in range in just a few minutes.

"_That ship is getting closer,"_ Baroth noted worriedly.

Cleath turned his head to look at the ship, then looked at Baroth. _"I know, but Maketh and his wing are watching it closely. Everyone understands that we go between if we see the smoke?"_

"_We are watching it,"_ Maketh added. Wing twenty three was being shadowed by another wing from the Weyr, and they had a rider along leading them. It was common practice now to send one wing out to guard over another wing, especially from the Northern European Weyrs who were close to Russia.

Svartvatn Weyr, like all Weyrs, had trained extensively by now to recognize a missile launch. Dragon eyesight was better than humans and could pick up the trail laid down by even the cleanest of rocket motors.

All of Wing twenty three murmured in acknowledgment to the Wing Leaders comment. Wing twenty three would immediately return home if that ship fired off a missile. Wing thirty five with it's rider in charge would deal with the ship. Russia didn't know it, but the Weyrs have taken off the gloves.

"Coming up on six kilometers Captain," noted the weapons officer. "The missiles are starting to track the beast's heat signatures." In truth the missiles obtained their initial targeting information from the ship's on-board systems, but the seeker heads were now fully powered and ready to begin seeking as soon as they left the launch tubes.

"Your orders are unchanged Weapons," replied the Captain softly. He didn't like this mission, the normal anti-aircraft missiles had a range of nearly thirty kilometers, but these heat seeking versions had a much more limited range and that exposed him and his ship to greater risk. Rumors had it that the dragons made for formidable foes if you didn't catch them by surprise.

The weapons officer nodded, then he turned a key on a console in front of him. Four lights blinked from amber to green and he stabbed a button. Just aft of the bow four missiles burst from the vertical launch tubes and rocketed skyward. He flipped another switch and another four missiles started their power up sequence. In under a minute he could launch all thirty six missiles he had available with just a few presses of a button.

"_Missiles!"_ shouted Maketh.

Wing twenty three instantly vanished, leaving four missiles with no target. With target lock lost all four missiles continued to the last known point for their targets, the seeker heads sweeping for a heat signature, any signature. When no heat signature in range was located all four missiles self destructed.

Wing thirty five had been nearly a mile above wing twenty three and north of them by another mile, putting the wing outside of the seeker's envelope of detection. It really didn't matter anyway because the wing went Between as soon as Maketh shouted his warning.

"Target lock lost!" shouted a confused Weapons officer.

The captain leaned forward anxiously in his chair.

Wing thirty five appeared not twenty feet above the Admiral Levechenko and twenty one dragons flamed the decks, destroying all of the close inboard anti-aircraft weapons and killed several crew members who had been on deck.

"Dragons!" someone shouted on the bridge, then the windows filled with a fire so hot it was nearly white. Every window on the bridge cracked and turned cloudy from the extreme heat.

Barely ten seconds had past since the appearance of the dragons, when they alighted on the destroyer, latching onto the ship.

"Hard to port!" shouted the Captain.

The ship suddenly lurched upwards hard and all light vanished. Captain Antanov cried out in fear, but he couldn't hear himself, let alone anyone else. Unlike the Weyr's space capsules, the destroyer had several hull breaches and wasn't protected from the environment that was Between. Between filled the interior of the ship, adding to the terror the crew were experiencing.

As quick as it began, it was over and Antanov could see and breath again. He wished he couldn't. The view through the open deck doorway showed that his ship was nose down and falling from several thousand feet. The rugged mountains were quickly coming up to meet the ship and there was no time to send a distress message.

Even if he could send a distress message, who would believe it?

The Admiral Levenchenko plunged into a mountainside bow first. The ship literally broke into millions of pieces and the crew died instantly. Three hundred Russian sailors and one of finest ships in the Russian Navy were gone. And no one would know the fate of the Admiral Levenchenko for weeks to come. The mountainous region was just too remote and too isolated for anyone to have witnessed the ship's demise.

* * *

**Harry's Office, Campbeltown Weyr...**

Harry glanced up from his computer and thought for a moment. He had just received confirmation from Svartvatn Weyr of their encounter with the Russian ship. Alfhild had contacted him via his dragon Nakth to inform him what had happened, and he followed up with an email that confirmed the bad news.

They had not managed to get the attack on film. There had been only one rider and while he had tried to film the attack, he had fumbled with his camera and dropped it. The camera, if it survived the fall, was now laying at the bottom of the Barents sea.

"_Harry do you want me to put the wings on alert?"_ asked Cheki.

He glanced over at his dragon in his stall, then he stood and walked over to scratch Cheki's eye ridges. "I don't know mate. We didn't get the proof we needed to show the world. What do you think?"

Cheki's eyes twirled slowly and he took his time, enjoying the intimate moment with his rider. Finally he replied. _"Without proof you know we can do nothing. I think you know that."_

Harry sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I do. We can still increase our alert level, but we've been on a pretty high alert for weeks. People are getting tired, we can't keep this up for much longer."

He paused in his scratching and looked out the office window. From his angle he couldn't see much, but he could see several dragons and their riders going about their business. Finally Harry turned back to Cheki. "No. No alert. Increasing the alert level really isn't going to help much. People are already keyed up. We'll make a change to the guard wings so that we have enough people with cameras, but outside of that, let's leave things be for now. I am certain it won't be long before the Russians give us the excuse we need."

"_Very well,"_ Cheki replied.

"Harry?"

He turned and spotted Ronan standing in the doorway. "Come in Ronan," he said, waving towards the chairs.

"Garanoth told me what happened," Ronan said, settling into his chair. "I am surprised to see you haven't already left for Svartvatn Weyr."

Harry chuckled, "It did cross my mind, but honestly Alfhild has things well in hand. I'd just be under foot there now."

"So we missed an opportunity?" Ronan asked softly.

Harry scowled for a moment. "Perhaps, but it wasn't a total loss. No dragons were lost this time. In the meantime I wouldn't be surprised if we see another attack within the next day or two."

Harry turned to look at Cheki who was watching the two men converse. It was obvious to the dragon that Harry might be looking at him, but he wasn't seeing him.

"We got lucky, but they'll be back, this was a first salvo," he murmured absently. Harry shook off his mood. "How are things going on your end?"

Ronan grinned. "We have built a small mountain of material. You saw the report from Mildred?"

Harry nodded and shuffled through the papers on his desk for a moment before he pulled out a printout of Mildred's email. "Yes, she makes some good points, but can we spare the people?"

"She's only asking for fifty riders and their dependents to start with, and some elves," Ronan replied.

Harry glanced down at the printout for a long moment, thinking carefully. "Alright I see the need for it. But I don't want to risk any elves. Talk to Dobby and see if we can get one to volunteer to go with the first group as a test. If the elf doesn't have any problems we'll increase their numbers."

He leaned down and scrawled 'Approved' across the email and initialed it, then he handed it to Ronan.

Ronan nodded and took the printout happily. He started for the door when Harry stopped him.

"Ronan, I know we need to perform a full survey, but I want that observatory site up first," Harry said in warning.

Ronan nodded. "I'll see that the wing leaders know their priorities."

"Thank you Ronan," Harry said, then he turned back to his papers.

* * *

**Number 10 Downing street, February 17****th****...**

"As you can see, we have vessels steaming from most of their northern ports," the First Sea Lord said, pointing to the computer display on the wall monitor. "We're also showing increased air search activity concentrated in the Barents Sea area. A polite inquiry via our embassy was rebuffed early this morning."

The Prime Minister frowned. "So it appears that the Russians are searching for something?" he asked.

Admiral Stanhope nodded. "If I may sir, this is not unusual for the Russians. If you recall the Kursk disaster it took several days before they would even acknowledge they had lost the submarine. Our Yank friends took a look at their satellite data and it does look like one of their surface ships is missing."

The Prime Minister arched an eyebrow and Stanhope rushed ahead with his explanation. "The American's noted the presence of a Russian destroyer on February 13th, when they checked again twenty four hours later they couldn't find any trace of the ship. Mind you, there was adequate time for the ship to return to a port and enter one of their concealed dry docks, but given the air search effort now in play my people don't think that happened."

He didn't bother to mention that it appeared that none of the concealed dry docks were in use at the moment.

Cameron frowned. "How many men were on that ship?"

Stanhope didn't need to look at the list of figures in front of him. "Three hundred sir. If they went into the water unprotected they wouldn't last an hour. Even with survival suits and life rafts the odds would be stacked against them. It's winter and the Barent's sea is particularly unforgiving this time of year."

"Can we help them?"

Stanhope shrugged. "It's likely too late for that sir. It would take days for our ships to get into the area. On the other hand it wouldn't hurt to make the offer. I'm certain we could coordinate with the Norwegians to help with an air search."

Cameron turned away from the large monitor and looked at the First Sea Lord. "Could the dragons be behind this?"

Stanhope shrugged again, he wasn't going to mention that the dragons could probably find the ship faster than any air search could. "They have been on a high alert for several weeks now, but if the destroyer attacked the dragons and they responded, they would have told the world by now. Our people are watching the Weyr carefully, but we've seen no sign that they have shifted to a war footing. Or no more than what we think would be a war footing."

"Would we even know if they had?" asked Cameron.

"I believe so sir. We've seen them run several drills where they evacuate all non-essential personnel from the Weyr; at the same time the wings form up and leave once the evacuation is complete. Our analysts think they would follow this pattern when they prepare to launch an attack."

"But what about the other Weyrs? Is anyone watching them?"

Stanhope looked hesitant to reply and the Prime Minister leaned closer. "I asked you a question Sea Lord."

"Sir, with all due respect, very few other governments feel as distrustful as you do towards their Weyrs," he replied slowly. "Other than the Yanks, none of the other Weyrs have any sort of military presence nearby and even the Yanks have been essentially pushed out of the Weyr. The Canadian Weyr and the Japanese Weyrs have civilian contract security services. I know for a fact that the only government people at the Canadian weyr are members of their forestry service conducting ongoing wildlife surveys."

Cameron moved to sit down in his chair. He sat silent for a moment before saying, "I am distrustful of any group that insists on autonomy. I always have been. What you are saying is that while we may have an idea what our Weyrs are up to, we have no idea what the others are doing."

"Yes sir, that is essentially correct. I might add that while the Weyrs insist on autonomy, they generally follow our laws and rules. In fact its been my experience that the only time they insist on doing things their way is when something impacts a rider/dragon pair. They pay their taxes, and fines when needed."

Cameron nodded reluctantly. What Stanhope said was true, there had been a few incidents of Riders violating local traffic laws, or underage drinking laws and he knew that the Weyr leadership was very strict with those riders, imposing punishments above and beyond what the local governments might impose. The Weyrs paid any fines promptly and without question.

The Weyrleader worked very hard to cooperate with authorities at the local level. Campbeltown and the Shetland Island Weyr hadn't had any serious incidents, but there had been one incident at the Weyr in Canada in which the Weyrleader had stepped in and ordered the rider involved confined for an extended period.

The rider wasn't put into jail, but he might as well have been. He was only allowed out for short periods to exercise his dragon. Lawyers for the Weyr had successfully argued that imprisoning the rider would also punish the dragon. They managed to convince the local government to allow them to confine the rider and compensate the local government for their expenses.

Cameron rubbed his temples slowly, he had another headache coming on. "Make the offer to the Russians to help with their search First Sea Lord and let me know if the situation changes."

Stanhope stood, he recognized a dismissal when he heard it. "Very good sir," he replied, then he gathered up his notes and left the room.


End file.
